Checkmate
by Hibisha
Summary: [Clean ver.] SSA Munakata Reisi and his team get lured into Shizume city, chasing a series of violent murders and a killer who calls himself "the Colorless". Caught in a vicious game of hide and seek, Munakata realizes his days are numbered - and with Suoh Mikoto involved, it seems certain that only one of them will emerge from this alive.
1. Fateful Encounters

And here we go, my entry for MikoRei week 2016! I'm really not entirely sure where I'm going with this idea, so please bear with me a little. This fic had not been pre-planned or even outlined - it was literally a spur of the moment thing and I had just a week to work on it so I didn't do much in depth research on these things. I'm sorry "OTL.

I'm sorry this is a mess.

But worry not! I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out though so ~ I hope you guys enjoy!

I hope I managed to deliver this right so blekh.

Also, I literally have zero knowledge about the working of the Japanese police force or PSIA. I'm basically just working with what I do know from the gazillion crime shows I watch. ~*^.^*~ Oh, and I have no idea about the distance between all these districts and places so yeah. I don't know how long it would take to get from one place to another so I just winged it.

This is the clean version, for the explicit version please visit AO3: "Checkmate"

* * *

 **"Fateful Encounters"**

 _"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."_

 **\- Albert Schweitzer.**

 **BAU, PSIA headquarters, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[3:08 am]**

"Is there any _good_ reason you guys called me in so early because I swear to God if this is another one of Captain's stupid get together parties, I'm going to fucking kill him." Fushimi Saruhiko glared at nothing in particular with bloodshot eyes, looking just as sleep deprived as he did two hours ago, after he had left the office, finally able to spend time with his boyfriend after returning from a murder case in Hokkaido. Sadly it was clearly not meant to be.

One of these days Yata Misaki was going to walk out on him, Fushimi was sure of it, seeing as he spent more than half his time being away from him.

Next to him, one of his colleagues, Hidaka Akira seemed to have nodded off, his head buried in his arms, his hair looking an even worse of a mess than usual. Fushimi didn't blame him. Their team had been gone for over half a month, spending time in the freezing cold winds of Hokkaido, searching for a mysterious killer who had seemed to operate locally. After apprehending a young man with a severe case of DID*, the team had finally flown back in the previous evening, all of them mentally and physically exhausted and wanting nothing more than a long week off from chasing down notorious killers and such.

What a foolish hope.

He had hardly had time to greet his lover and get comfortable in his own bed when his phone had started blowing up, his superior urgently asking him to return to their workplace.

Fushimi didn't want to see another human being for the next five months.

He had barely staggered in through the main entrance when their communication liaison, Awashima Seri had handed him a file and ushered him to the debriefing room where about half their team was already present. He took a seat behind the large circular desk just as his supervisory agent, Munakata Reisi walked in, looking so calm and relaxed that you wouldn't think he hadn't slept for three weeks. Fushimi hated him so much at that one instance he opted to punch him. Or rather, opted to imagine punching him.

Akiyama Himori walked in after him along with Benzai Yujiro and Doumyouji Andy, looking as haggard as he felt and for the first time since he had joined the bureau, Fushimi felt an odd sort of kinship with his fellow colleagues.

Clearly indicating that yes, he needed to sleep now.

"Oh all of us are here, marvelous." Munakata observed, easing himself gracefully into place behind the large oval table which was covered in papers. Hidaka looked up to give their section chief a bleary stare, brown eyes dead.

"Munakata-san, why did you call us in?" he all but whined, and Fushimi nodded while the others made similar noises of protests. Munakata held up a hand.

"Awashima-kun will explain everything as soon as she comes."

"I'm here." All eyes turned to look at the young blonde woman as she strode inside purposefully, looking determined if not a bit disheveled. Subconsciously, Fushimi wondered if the woman had even had time to visit her boyfriend, a local bar owner but chances were that no, she hadn't. She probably hadn't even left the building.

"Gentlemen," she greeted them curtly as they all sat up straight, "I know you all got back just a few hours ago but I was suddenly presented with an urgent case that can't take the backseat for now and we need to start working on it immediately." She turned towards the large screen behind her which flickered to life as she help up a remote.

"Okay, since you've all been away, I've had Enomoto help on a smaller side case in Shizume city hoping I could have cracked it on my own. Until 10 hours ago, everything seemed perfect and was sailing smoothly. There was a prime suspect and the arrest was to be made but four hours ago, a member of the Shizume police force contacted me and -" Her face hardened, "It's best if you all listen in on the recording." She clicked a button and all of them sat up, listening to the phone ringing.

 _Ring._

 _Ring._

 _"Hello, Tokyo BAU headquarters, how may I hep you?"_

 _"Awashima san!"_

 _"Yes this is Awashima speaking, who ar-"_

 _"Awashima-san, you have to help us! It's a disaster! He's coming for us! We don't know how to stop him!"_

 _"Calm down! Is this Isana Yashiro from Shizume Police force?"_

 _"Yes but there is no time, he's here for all of us he wants us dead. The curse of the sword is upon us."_

The call was suddenly cut off. Awashima coughed.

"As you can see," she began, now that all of them were highly attentive, "Something might have gone wrong during the arrest. That was the last I had heard from the man and I didn't even give it much thought until this came in about two hours ago." Another click on the remote an the rest immediately sat up, gasping.

Fushimi raised an eyebrow at the carnage displayed on screen.

"Is that..."

"The Shizume City Police station? Yes. Or rather what used to be the station." Awashima confirmed, her mouth set in a tight line, "Clearly, you can tell someone...did quite a number on it." Quite a number indeed. The whole building was in flames, barely holding itself together. Munakata's violet eyes narrowed.

"Casualties?" He inquired as Fushimi flipped through the contents of file the blonde had handed him when he had walked in. Pictures of multiple brutalities greeted him and he grimaced. Ah it was going to be one of those cases then.

"Two officers dead, five in the hospital in critical condition." Awashima replied to their chief, her body tense. "The rest are injured but on their feet." Munakata nodded.

"Very well then." He said, with a slight incline of his head, "Moving onto the case." The images on the screen changed from the wreckage to a photograph of a young woman.

"Miyabi Ameno, 20." Akiyama read out from his own file, "She went missing three months ago in Shibuya and her body was found in the woods surrounding Shizume city approximately a week ago. An old couple was strolling through the site when they discovered this." Another click and Andy let out a small petrified scream. "Clear signs of an over kill." Fushimi clicked his tongue.

That was an understatement.

"How is this a case for us though?" he questioned, not sure why a single death would be enough to call them in. Awashima gave him a blank stare.

"It wasn't our case - which is why this nearly went under the radar. Except two days later, a second body was found." The screen displayed a new person. "Kukuri Yukizome, 19, went missing approximately two weeks ago from her way home from Ashinaka High school. She was found in one of the local parks where a few joggers found her in a similar state as the first victim." Munakata gave a thoughtful look at his own file.

"Some traces of her DNA were found on the next crime scene, placed in the victim's hands." Awashima added. A cold feeling settled into the pit of Fushimi's stomach and he felt a chill go around the room.

"Oya, one more to the body count?" Munakata asked, eyes widening, "Quite a spree for a span of a week." Awashima nodded tersely.

"The final victim was a male. He still hasn't been identified yet though. We figured he's 18 years old though – he had those birthday bracelets with eighteen beads. His autopsy was due today -"

"So this connects the last two murders, but what about the first?" Benzai questioned, "Could be just a one kill thing - his methodology could just be something that the new killer decided to pick up. Like a copy cat killer." The blonde shook her head.

"That's what I had thought originally too." she said, looking grim, "But then we found this at the scene of the crime." She showed them another slide of a necklace wrapped around the third victim's neck. "It belongs to the first victim, a gift from her boyfriend – he was the one who confirmed that victim number one was indeed Miyabi."

"Someone put a lot of thought into this." Fushimi supplied tossing his file away. He had seen enough. "So the unsub wants us to know he's related to all three crimes." Awashima nodded.

"He wants his due credit. Also, the attack on the police station and finally these notes." Another image on the screen showed a bunch of hand written notes. "These were sent to Isana Yashiro at his house."

" _Roses are red, violets are blue, I am colorless, I'm out to get you._ " Andy read out one, "Wow, kind of corny but it does it's job well I guess."

" _Miss me miss me, you're too slow to catch me._ " Benzai read the other out quietly, "What is he? A child?"

"In other words, this is a clear cut challenge to the law enforcers." Fuse concluded, "Look at the last one, _ring around the posers, a pocket full of enforcers, ashes ashes, they'll all burn down._ " He turned to look at Awashima, "I'm guessing this one came last?" The blonde nodded, her face showing clear signs of distress.

"Yes, and then the station was attacked." Awashima said, "Which is why we're being called in. This is clearly getting out of hand and needs to resolved as soon as possible." Gotou Ren, who had been silent throughout the whole discussion finally cleared his throat.

"Victim number three doesn't seem to be placed in the over kill zone though." The body. Clearly a man, was shot twice, once in the head, and one straight in the chest. Munakata's face became grim.

"I agree with you there Gotou-kun." He began raising from his chair which everyone took as a cue to get up as well, "This case is very peculiar because on surface, nothing links the three victims together. But I suppose if we were to go down and investigate, something might pop up?" The team nodded – well except Fushimi, who was giving his chief a wry look. He waited until everyone had filed out before he raised an eyebrow.

"You know something we don't?" He asked out loud. Munakata didn't even flinch.

"I don't know what you're talking about Fushimi-kun." He replied slyly, "You're over thinking things." He gracefully made his way past his favorite subordinate, slightly placing a hand on his shoulder for a few seconds. "Come, we need to get ready to leave."

Fushimi clicked his tongue and followed his superior out of the house, only pausing to cast a quick glance at the screen where the photographs of the three victims were smiling back at him.

He slammed the door shut after him.

* * *

"..and then I told her there was no way I was going to leave her on our anniversary-" Enomoto Tatsuya nodded at his partner Fuse in a sympathetic way. They were the two technical analysts of the group, working from their head quarters to dig through old information and records. Fuse grimaced.

"I pity the others most of all."

"You should pity us!" Both of them looked up to see Hidaka walking towards them with Akiyama and Andy in tow, all of them holding large steaming mugs of coffee. "We're gonna be busy for the whole of next week at the very least!" Akiyama shook his head.

"Hopefully, we'll catch the guy in a few days only. He's on a spree and if this guy is as arrogant as we believe right now, he's going to kill again - soon." Benzai, who had seemed to drifted in their conversation nodded.

"Yes, especially if he's already attacked the police station - he's on a power trip right now and even if this high from his most recent kill stops him from killing immediately, he's going to want to start again and this time, he's not going to be holding back any punches. Personally I think - FUSHIMI-KUN!" His eyes seemed to have settled onto the sulky agent who was trying his level best to sneak away before someone caught him. Like a deer caught in headlights, he blinked at them slowly, frozen in place.

"Do you want some coffee?" Hidaka asked cheerfully, holding out his mug.

Enomoto mentally facepalmed. _Hidaka you idiot if the man wanted coffee, he would have gotten it himself._

Fushimi Saruhiko, their youngest member, was, in a rather short manner of speaking, highly unsociable. He hated spending more time with his fellow colleagues than absolutely necessary, hating it when his superior would forcibly ask him to attend one of his infamous get-togethers. Even now, the initial shock of being discovered had worn off and the tell tale signs of a scowl were showing on his face.

"No, I don't want coffee," he snapped, "What I want is a three month paid vacation so I can get all these images out of my mind or the next person to go on a killing spree is going to be me!" Kamo Ryuho, the oldest member of the team, walked up behind him.

"Fushimi-kun, chief wants you in his office." Fushimi's face went slack and he glared at the door to the dreaded room.

"I fucking hate that man so much." he growled before turning to look back at them, drawing himself up and clicking his tongue, "All right you idiots, get to the transportation cars, we'll be leaving in ten." The rest saluted him quick and he walked off in the direction of their chief's room.

* * *

A knock on the door made him look up from his puzzle and he smiled.

"Come in Fushimi-kun." The scowling figure slinked inside and gave his captain a blank look.

"What?"

"What do you make of the case?" Munakata inquired, resting his elbows on the table so as to rest his chin on his intertwined fingers. "I wasn't to know what your take is on the killings." Fushimi snorted.

"Not much - just what I had to say in the room."

Munakata frowned.

"And nothing of this case strikes odd to you at all?" He prodded, looking a bit put out. He had seen as Fushimi's dull blue eyes had lit up for a moment when they had been discussing the case – something that very rarely happened when the young man was tired. Fushimi gave him a level headed stare.

"I want to visit the first victim's crime scene." He finally confessed, "I feel there's something there that we should look for that connects it to the third victim - apart from the necklace." Munakata nodded, slowly getting out of his chair, his eyes focused on the raven haired man before him.

"I trust you will find what is needed Fushimi kun." He said, smiling slyly, "After all, you can't wait to be done with the case so you can return to Yata Misaki kun correct?" Munakata had no doubt his subordinate was making elaborate plans to murder him at the moment. Smiling serenely, he gestured towards he door."Shall we leave then Fushimi kun?"

"...I hate you."

Munakata let out a small chuckle. "I'm quite aware of that Fushimi-kun." The younger man grumbled.

"Don't make me feel bad about hating your pretentious ass." Munakata grinned.

"I wouldn't dream of it Fushimi-kun."

The two of them reached the main gates where the official PSIA vans were waiting for them. Munakata watched as his teams dragged themselves into the in respective cars and turned to smile at the younger man beside him who seemed to have come to a horrible conclusion on his own.

"Oya. It seems you will be riding with me then Fushimi-kun."

The look on the man's face was enough to keep him happy for a few days.

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume** **City, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[7:00 AM]**

"Ah looks like we're here." Munakata stated happily, looking out the window, as they pulled up in front of a hotel they had booked rooms to stay in. Hotel Divine', the name of the establishment was spelled out in large letters and the whole building had a rather old English Victorian mansion feel to it. Two officers stood at the main entrance, waiting to welcome them. As they stepped out, they approached, neither one of them looking particularly happy. Well, they had lost a lot of officers, so Munakata figured it was okay for them to look past the initial pleasantries.

"Officer Yashiro," one of them, the albino one, said, extending his hand for Munakata to shake, "I'm assuming you're Munakata Reisi?" Munakata dipped his head slightly.

"You were the one who called then." He said, giving the man a small smile. Isana nodded, his face grim. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he scowled.

"It's a mess over here. Those men who died – they were good people. They didn't deserve to die." Munakata gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Indeed, it was a tragedy. Their lives will not be forgotten and their killer will be brought to justice."

"Captain, where do we set up our work space?" Both men turned to look at Fushimi leaning against the van, eyes focused on his PDA, fiddling away. "Since the police station is not an option?" Munakata opened his mouth but before he could say a single word, the dark haired officer who had stood silently in the background spoke up.

"It is in bad faith not to make eye contact when speaking to someone else." Munakata bit his tongue to keep himself from smirking. Oho – what an interesting development. Fushimi looked up from his PDA to cast a bored look at them.

"Charming." he dead panned, "Too bad I'm not a man of faith. Captain, where do we set up - I want to know before the merry men of idiotsville join us." Munakata turned to look at Isana.

"Well Isana-san, is there any place we can work?" The albino nodded, gesturing towards the hotel.

"We booked you guys a conference room here so you guys can have some space to work." Munakata smiled wider.

"Excellent. Fushimi kun, if you will." The blue eyed man grumbled as he dragged himself towards the lobby with his overnight bag, no doubt to get himself settled in. Munakata turned to look at the two officers once more. "I'm sorry, I'm not aware of your partner's name." Isana let out a small laugh.

"Oh right – this is Kuroh Yatogami." Kuroh nodded his head a bit in greeting. Munakata lowered his head a bit.

"I'm gracious that you two come all the way to meet us here. We wll get started as soon as the rest of my team arrives, we seemed to have gotten a bit separated along the way." Isana waved his hand.

"No problem Munakata-san." He said brightly, "I'll have some one send you a copy of whatever files we've managed to salvage out of the fire." His face became serious. "Most of our work was just burnt away so we have no idea how helpful it'll be." Munakata shook his head.

"It is alright, we just will want to visit the crime scenes and talk to the immediate contacts and such." Isana nodded and both officers bid them farewell as they walked away. Munakata watched their retreating backs until they disappeared around the corner.

"Well Fushimi-kun, what do you make of them?" Said agent materialized beside him, looking half bored.

"Too early to make a judgement but I'd like to keep an eye on them sir." Munakata nodded in agreement.

"Very well," Munakata said thoughtfully, hands clasped behind his back "I'll have one of the members work with them close quarters." A smile graced his lips. "And Fushimi kun, about that eye contact -" Fushimi groaned and walked away from him, angrily stuffing his hands in his pockets. Humming slightly, he followed the younger man inside. "When are the others getting here?" Fushimi cast a look back at him before he walked on.

"I got a message from Akiyama that they've all stopped to have breakfast on the way before getting here." Munakata raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oya? You should have told me - we could have gone-" Fushimi held up a hand.

"Work Captain." he drawled out lazily. Munakata's face fell for a briefest of moments before he smiled again.

"Perhaps you and I could-"

"Work." Fushimi marched inside and led the way to the conference room they were to use as their base. Munakata peered around the room curiously.

"Cameras?" he questioned. Fushimi shot him an exasperated look mixed with a bit of annoyance.

"What do you take me for." he huffed, "Disabled them the second I stepped in here." Munakata simply picked up one of the case files and began to leaf through.

"Miyabi Ameno disappeared as she was on her way to a job interview correct?"

"Yes that's what Awashima-san was told." Both males turned around to see the rest of the team come piling in. "Where is she anyways?" Akiyama added, looking around for the familiar sightings of blonde hair, "I thought she was with you guys?"

"She got off at the news station to talk to the local reporters about the case." Fushimi mumbled, setting up a large whiteboard, pulling out a vast collection of colorful markers. "About time you guys got here by the way." He added, shooting them a dirty look.

"Sorry about that." Andy replied, grinning and bounding over to grab a file himself, "So what's the case so far?" Munakata cleared his throat as all eyes turned to him.

"Well, we'll start with the first victim. Miyabi san left her apartment at 3:45 pm, in July, for a job interview. Her roommate filed a missing person's report two days later as Miyabi san never returned home. Apparently, she had never even made it to the interview." Violet eyes looked raised themselves to two members who sat up straight. "Akiyama kun, Benzai kun, I want you both to go and talk to the roommate. She might still be able to tell us things."

Akiyama and Benzai nodded and headed out. Then Munakata turned to look at Hidaka and Gotou, who were trying to help Fushimi set up the board where they would work on the case. "You two should probably go and speak to Miyabi's boyfriend - get him to tell you all about her. And don't forget that this man is also a potential suspect." As the two left the room, Munakata finally turned to look at the rest of them.

"The rest of you are going to head out to the disposal site where the unsub dumped the body."

"Colorless." Fushimi mumbled quietly, "He calls himself colorless." Munakata nodded.

"True," he agreed, "Colorless then. Let's go men." The remaining three men saluted, a bit reluctantly on Fushimi's part to be completely honest and filed out of the room. Munakata picked up the picture of the first victim, fingers trailing along its edges as he went and tacked it to the board. Staring at her intently, he silently assessed the situation in his mind.

Miyabi was headed for a meeting and the unsub had probably been lying low, waiting for her to pass so that he could attack. Seeing as it had been quite a busy time on the streets, no doubt it had to be someone she either knew or felt secure around. There was no evidence of sexual misconduct so this was not a sexual predator.

Picking up a marker, Munakata wrote down what he knew about all three victims.

Female, female, male.

20, 19 18.

Ah. So there it was.

"A countdown." He muttered, "He's counting down the kills. It's a timer...but to what?"

* * *

 **Forest,** **Shizume** **City, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[7:20 AM]**

"Can you please bring me the couple who found the body?" Fushimi asked the young officer who greeted them at the edge of the forest. The kid, who looked like he was fresh out of the academy, nodded eagerly and began to lead them into the forest, following a path.

"Kusuhara Takeru." he supplied, holding out his hand, reminding Fushimi of an eager puppy wagging it's tail, "Hey, I heard you guys are from the PSIA - really?" Andy, who was trailing behind them grinned and nodded.

"Yup, that's us! We're profilers though - we look into the minds of the killer and try to think the same way he does!" Kusuhara's eyes widened with amazement and Fushimi and Kamo exchanged wary looks - really, there was no shutting up the red head.

"So cool!" Kusuhara exclaimed, looking thrilled, "You guys must have met so many serial killers. That so cool!" Andy's chest puffed up and he opened his mouth to respond but Fushimi beat him to it.

"There is nothing cool or remarkable about it." he said sharply, "It's a serious job which _some_ of us," he shot a dirty look at Andy who deflated immediately, "don't seem to realize." Andy pouted and Kamo let out a small chuckle. Fushimi turned to look at the young officer again, who at this point, looked extremely flustered. "So, the couple who found the body?" Kusuhara nodded towards and old couple sitting on some rocks near by, looking around nervously. As Fushimi made his way over, the young officer reached out and grabbed him by his upper arm.

"Ah Fushimi-kun," he said, eyes turning serious, "Please don't be too harsh with them - they've been through a lot." Fushimi stared for a bit before clicking his tongue. He nodded and made his way over to the pair.

"Agent Fushimi Saruhiko," he declared holding up a badge, "Mr. and Mrs. Iwa-san?" The two nodded, the man holding on to the woman's frail looking fingers. Seeing them so close made a pang of longing erupt in his own chest for a certain ex-delinquent. Shaking away the thought, he lowered his head a bit in respect before taking a seat across from them on a log, "I understand you wouldn't want to talk about...what you saw that day but we-"

"I want to help." The woman's eyes, sharp and bright stared at him filled with determination. "I want to help. Anyone," Her voice was wavering, as her grip on her husband's fingers tightened, "Anyone who would do that to another human being...they deserve to be caught." Letting go of her husband's hand, she reached out and grabbed his instead, making him flinch internally, "You're-you're going to catch him right?"

"Yes ma'am," Fushimi mumbled, wishing he had let Kamo handle the questioning. "We're gonna try our level best." The woman seemed appeased by that answer and released her hold on him. Sitting up straight, she took a deep breath and nodded at her husband who gave her a small hesitant smile.

"Okay we're ready." Fushimi took a deep breath.

"You say you were both out for your daily walk when you came across it sometime in the evening, is that correct?" They nodded. Fushimi pointed to the path. "And this is a path you take everyday?" Another nod. "Alright, can you describe what you saw? Not-" he added hastily, seeing their faces begin to show despair, "-not the victim but before that, while you were on the walk...did you notice anyone or anything strange?" The husband closed his eyes for a moment.

"No..." he finally said, "There was no one there. That isn't anything new - it's mostly quiet and empty at that time. We only go there because Isana-san is on posted here around that time. He comes and stays here from three to six." Fushimi nodded. Isana had been the first to the crime scene after hearing the screaming of the woman. "He led us away and that's all that happened."

"So you saw nothing else?" Fushimi urged. The woman's eyes became a bit misty.

"The rock had been moved."

"What?" Fushimi questioned, puzzled. The woman pointed to a small boulder a bit further away.

"That rock...its been moved. I didn't think...I didn't think it was important but-"

"Are you sure?" Fushimi asked, his heart beating faster. The woman nodded.

"I've walked this trail for ten years young man and that's always been right around this bend but it's been moved to..." The rest of her words died in her mouth and Fushimi understood what she meant. The boulder was now next to the tree the body had been hanging from. Fushimi signaled Kamo and Andy to go investigate a bit. Turning back to face the old couple, he got up and held out his hand to help the elderly up.

"Thank you for your time and patience." he said in a mechanical voice, years of training flowing out, "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you." The woman shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"None of it - just...just catch him." Nodding, Fushimi watched as they made their way back down the trail where some officer was ready to escort them home.

Turning to face Kamo and Andy, he walked over and raised his eyebrow. "Well?" Kamo nodded towards the tree.

"The rock was rolled all the way over to the base of the tree." he said, eyes looking at the boulder thoughtfully. "It's just the right thing one would need to stand on." Fushimi raised his eyebrow.

"Pardon?" Andy waved his hand impatiently.

"The unsub needed to elevate the body right? Well, he used this rock to get up on the tree." Fushimi cocked his head, his mind processing bits of information.

"You and I can get on these branches pretty easily." he started slowly as both of them nodded, "But we wouldn't be able to do so...if we were shorter..."

"Bingo." Andy said, snapping his fingers, "The unsub is shorter than us! Or really weak - you know he might not have been able to pull himself up."

"But he pushed this boulder all the way till here." Kamo argued, "He can't be weak." Fushimi had to agree that Kamo had a really good point.

 _Someone knew that the trail would be empty at that time._ Fushimi thought as he silently watched Kamo and Andy work on their discovery, _Someone knew this path would be empty and the stone would be there. This is a local acting out._

"You guys keep looking around here for more clues." He said, as both of his colleagues straightened up and nodded, "I'll look around and see if there is something the cops might have missed. They're not the brightest in the lot here." Andy and Kamo nodded their heads and began to inspect their surroundings.

"So no one has been in or out of here I hope." Fushimi asked one of the other officers stationed at the edge of the forest. The man nodded nervously. Behind them, Kamo and Andy worked silently, trying to find things that hadn't been washed away by time and Fushimi stared at them for a few minutes. After making sure Andy was in fact doing his job and not horsing around, he turned to look around the area. Slinking a bit deeper into the forest, he made his way off the trail.

"Think Saruhiko, think. The unsub clearly takes pride in his work - If I was the unsub," he thought, picking his way through the thicket, "I'd want to leave something more. Something that means something to me personally – something like-" His feet came to an abrupt stop. Eyes widening, his face set itself in a grimace as he turned and shouted -

"OI YOU GUYS! SOMEONE CALL THE FORENSICS AND GET A CAMERA! I NEED A PICTURE OF THIS." There, on the rock in front of him was a large red symbol carved into the stone and painted in what Fushimi assumed to be dried blood. An intricate pattern of dark flames with clearly a very artistic touch to it. Fushimi felt a small tug in his mind as he stared and couldn't help but feel he had seen it before. It wasn't until Kamo showed up with some of the forensic crew in tow that he remembered. His mouth became dry and he ran his tongue over his lips to make them moist.

"Also get me a car, we're going to see the bodies."

* * *

 **Forensics Laboratory,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[10:00 AM]**

"I knew it." Fushimi stared at the body laid out in front of him, wrinkling his nose in disgust. The doctor had tried their level best to patch her up again but it was clear that wasn't going to be easy. Kukuri's empty sockets stared up at them, clean now, as compared to the mess they had been when the body had first been discovered. But Fushimi was focused on the palm of her hand. There, carved into it, was the same symbol.

"I knew I had seen this before." he muttered. Behind him, Andy and Kamo were giving each other amused looks. "This symbol links these two together."

"What symbol?" He looked up to see the forensics doctor, Douhan Hirasaka come in, wearing her white coat over her casual outfit. He nodded towards the corpse's hand.

"The mark." The woman before him nodded.

"Ah yes, I was going to message you all about this. I looked over the third victim today and guess what I found on him? I didn't give this symbol much attention to be honest - it wasn't until I was called by your team five minutes ago that I related the two." Fushimi nodded.

"So the third body has the mark too?" The blonde woman's mouth got set in a tight line.

"Well yes, but not quite the same thing." Fushimi raised his eyebrow.

"Oh really? How is that?" he inquired. Douhan's green eyes met his blue ones before she motioned them to follow her to the other room where another body was laid out. Slipping on gloves, she easily turned it over slightly so they could have a clear view of the man's left shoulder.

The symbol glared at them, taunting them with it's existence.

"As you can see," Douhan began, "This is clearly a nicely done tattoo. The strokes, the curves - they are all made by a professional artist. Meanwhile the ones you see on the stone and her palm, you can see they were done in a crude fashion. Someone who only knew what the tattoo looked like and didn't have any real knowledge of ever making it." Fushimi nodded absentmindedly.

"So this victim had this tattoo before his kill." Douhan nodded.

"Affirmative. Also, unless this is a very old tattoo, you can tell it's been there for a few years. There is one more thing you'd be interested in knowing." The three of them all looked at her puzzled, "Miyabi was restrained and skinned. You can see from all her abdominal laceration she was fighting back till the end. Kukuri on the other hand, was not restrained - she had been killed before she was made to resemble the first victim. Also, one would suspect she was familiar with the person who did this as you can't see any marks on her that would give away that she was abducted. As in the case of the first victim, you can find traces of sedatives in her body which mean she was subdued and sedated but Kukuri has nothing of the sort - not even chloroform."

"She went with him willingly."

"Yes that is what I would say." Douhan said, sliding her glasses back up her nose, "She was killed by a stab in the heart so you can probably assume that was the first wound - he killed her and then mutilated her body." Fushimi nodded and thanked the doctor before signalling the others to follow him out. As they made their way away from the laboratory, his thoughts all over the place.

"One thing's for sure then," Kamo voiced behind him, "The last victim was not coincidental. He was a target." Fushimi nodded.

"Now all we need to do is figure out who the fuck he is." Pulling out his cell phone, he called back at headquarters.

"Enomoto," he said, as soon as the call got connected to the other end, "I need you do look into something for me. It's a symbol."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[1:00 PM]**

Munakata sighed, eyes hurting a bit and he reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had recently just gotten some news about some tattoo and finally pieces were falling into place. All except for -

"I'm hungry." The thought had surprised him because he hardly ever felt such but he was. All around him was a mess of papers. Files scattered all over the tables and the white board in front of him full of theories and pictures trying to link the murders together. So far, only the tattoo was the thing that connected them.

Hidaka and Gotou were still not back with their share of the information and neither were Akiyama and Benzai back with theirs. Awashima had contacted him a few moments ago that she was a few minutes away from the hotel. Sighing, he turned to walk out of the room. He really should get at least some coffee. Exiting the hotel, he turned to look for a nearby diner he might buy a small meal before returning back to his place. Walking briskly, he soon saw a small restaurant across the street. Smiling to himself, he made his way to the brightly colored place.

The bell above the door ringed, softly but alerting the hostess of his presence who immediately smiled at him widely.

"Welcome!" she greeted him cheerfully, "What can I get for you?" He slid into a seat on the main counter next to a red headed man, who was the only other customer in the place.

"I'll have a green tea then, no sugar." He stated brusquely, "And I suppose I wouldn't mind a chicken sandwich but do not include any cheese in it." The person next to him snorted and turned to look at him. Munakata faced him, raising an eyebrow, seconds away from demanding what was so amusing.

"You talk funny." Munakata couldn't answer. He was too busy staring at the golden eyes staring at him, pining him into place. Munakata didn't need to be a profiler to know this man was bad news. Leather jacket, chains and a slanted smile. Eyelids half lowered, fingers running through artfully tussled hair - it was like a bad movie scene and Munakata knew for a fact that he was above all of it.

So why was his heart beating so fast?

Still the man had sort of insulted him and Munakata was not going to stand for that.

"Oya?" he inquired, a tight smile on his face, "What's so funny?" He watched as the other chuckled - a deep throaty sound that sent shivers down his spine and made his fingers tingle. It was just the kind of low timbre that he liked - something he was discovering just now. Golden orbs stared at him relentlessly, making him somewhat want to squirm in his seat. But Munakata was, if not anything else, the master of masking his true emotions.

"You sound so stuck up." It seemed the man did not like to speak a lot of words, but the ones he did left an impact nonetheless. Huffing, Munakata got to his feet in indignation.

"I will have you know," he said, positively peeved, "A lot of people consider one of the most enjoyable companion ever." He saw a the other's light up and knew he had said the wrong thing. The person let out another throaty laugh - this time the profiler had to consciously hold himself from reacting to it - and smirked at him.

"I'm sure you make a really _enjoyable_ companion." he drawled, leaving no doubts in the other's mind about what exactly he was implying and Munakata could feel his body flushing. Glaring at the man, he addressed the woman who was busy preparing his order.

"Make my order to go." he said politely. The woman nodded, and began to bad his sandwich. The red head watched him with barely masked amusement. Munakata wanted to punch him - something almost instinctual seemed to be taking over and he hurriedly paid for his food before he did something he would truly regret.

As he exited through the door, he missed golden eyes watching him thoughtfully.

"So that's him huh."

* * *

"Oh Captain you're back." Munakata walked into the hotel to see Fushimi and the others sitting in various positions on the floor, papers scattered everywhere. "We found where that symbol comes from."

"Enomoto found where it comes from." Kamo corrected him, "We just found the symbol." Andy waved his hand.

"Details."

"Excellent work team." Munakata said, eyes sparkling, "Did Enomoto-kun and Fuse-kun fax the details?" Fushimi sat up from where he was sprawled on the floor, looking every bit lethargic as he was and nodded.

"Yeah - Awashima-san went to make the copies." Munakata came and sat down on one of the chairs pulling out his sandwich and taking a dainty bit. A flash of red consumed his mind momentarily but he ignored it in favor of not ruining his mood.

"Captain, you're scowling."

Ah there goes his good mood.

"I'm simply thinking of a dreadful person I came across today." He informed the raven haired male, "Simply boorish and uncouth and not worth our time." Fushimi raised an eye brow.

"Oookay." He said, holding up his hands, "I'll just, not ask."

"So what does the symbol represent?" He inquired after finishing his food.

"No blood, no bone, no ash." The other said lazily, stretching his arms above his head. "Its a logo for a local gang." A look of distaste made it's way on his face and Munakata had to bite the insides of his cheek to stop himself from reminding his subordinate that his boyfriend once used to be part of some local gang as well. "Homra, they call it. They're a bit arsenic in nature thus the stupid flames." Munakata nodded.

"And the leader?" he inquired, "I'm guessing he's someone we'll have to question?" Fushimi gave him the "no shit genius" look which he felt was highly in appropriate seeing as he was his supervisory agent. Nonetheless, he let it slide. "Tell me about him."

"He's somewhere in his late 20's, typical thug like attitude. Likes to nap a lot - apparently that's what all his files say - like legit, this is apparently on of his qualities. He likes to nap a lot." Munakata snorted.

"Sounds like a charming man."

"It gets better, he mostly only speaks grunts and monosyllabic words."

Munakata rolled his eyes.

"Cavemen.' he muttered, walking over to the board. He noticed how Fushimi had made a list of all their data in one corner. "Have Akiyama-san and the others not returned yet?" Fushimi shook his head no. Somewhere in the corner, both Kamo and Andy dozed off in their seats and Munakata figured he could let them - they needed their rest after all.

"Akiyama and Benzai are on their way back while Hidaka and Gotou decided to go speak to victim number two's parents." Munakata tapped a marker against the board.

"And what do you think of the countdown theory?" he asked, taking a sip of his tea. Fushimi made a disturbed look.

"Well, I'm hoping that its a coincidence but being in this line of work means that there is literally zero chance of that - this guy plans on killing seventeen more times and also include if he's going by age, children." A look of pure disgust wormed its way onto his face. "What a sick fuck."

"Indeed." Munakata agreed, "So you think the leader of the gang could be the one killing all these people?" Fushimi shrugged, clicking his tongue.

"Who knows." he mumbled, "I haven't talked to Suoh Mikoto yet."

"Suoh Mikoto?"

"The leader."

"Oya? Then-"

"Here is all the information you need for the Homra group." Awashima declared, entering the room briskly and handing them all separate files, waking up Andy and Kamo. "We even managed to get a hold of the man's picture." Munakata muted out the rest of the conversation as he began to flip through the file. A single photograph fluttered to the ground and he leaned in to pick it up.

A flash of red.

Munakata froze.

Fingers trembling, he picked up the photograph and stared at it with increasing apprehension. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a headache was brewing slowly.

This had to be some sort of cosmic joke the universe was playing on him.

Red hair, golden eyes and a piercing gaze.

A small humorless chuckle escaped past his lips.

Suoh Mikoto was indeed, a man full of surprises.

* * *

Well...well then.

I hope you liked it?

I would understand if some people didn't like the aimlessly boring parts but they were necessary ^^"


	2. Tangled

Well, here's the second chapter!

Prompt #2: **Missing.**

I'll be honest this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. "OTL It was hard to write and I was feeling uninspired as fuck. Then I lost parts of this chapter - twice. I had to re-write them - twice. I actually felt like just throwing it all away. But I managed to finish it in time so yay! I guess it's a bit dry in the start - possibly I don't know I enjoy crime shows so it doesn't seem that way to me but people might find it that way?

* * *

 **"Tangled"**

 _"From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate."_

 **\- Socrates.  
**

 **Miyabi Ameno's apartment, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17th** **September, Thursday.**

 **[8:45 AM]**

"Hello?" Akiyama knocked on the wooden door in front of him and Benzai stood behind him, mildly looking around the hallway. It had taken them approximately two hours to reach Shibuya to have a talk with first victim's roommate. They heard shuffling inside as if someone was moving about then the door opened just a crack revealing a porcelain face, chain in place, keeping the door locked.

"Agent Akiyama and Benzai," Akiyama said methodically, holding up his credentials, "We were hoping we could speak to a certain Ms. Anna Kushina?" Ruby eyes peered at him through the crack of the door, silently holding out her hand. Confused, he blinked before realizing she was asking for his badge. Wordlessly, he passed it to her and watched as she inspected it, her facial expression betraying nothing of what was going on in her mind. She handed back his credentials before the door shut once again, only for the sounds of bolts and chains being removed to be heard before the door swung open.

"Welcome." Never in his life had Akiyama heard a more emotionally detached voice - and he worked with Fushimi Saruhiko so that was saying something.

A young woman, dressed in a red lolita outfit, motioned at them to follow her, her long silver hair fluttering behind her. Akiyama had read in her file that she was 23 years old but her short height and doll like face made her look not a day over 16. Once he was inside, he realized most of the items in the house were red - carpets, curtains, ornaments - everything in a shade of red. The young woman motioned them to sit down and went away momentarily, only to return with a plate full of biscuits and some juice. The two agents thanked her and the albino sat on a stool across them, silently watching them.

The clock ticked.

"Miyabi's spirit is at unease." The sudden quiet declaration made them jump slightly, but the woman paid them no heed. She was staring at a red glass marble in her palm. "Miyabi's spirit is at unease - she's trapped here." Internally, Akiyama thanked God he and Benzai had been the one to be sent to deal with the eccentric young woman - Gotou and Hidaka were both too into the spiritual side of life and believed all the supernatural nonsense thrown at them. In other words, Hidaka was scared of ghosts and would have probably passed out right about now.

"Miyabi-san's spirit?" Benzai questioned, eyebrows furrowing, "Excuse me but do you speak to those who have crossed over to the other side?"

Akiyama took that back, Benzai was just as ridiculously superstitious as the others.

How could he have forgotten the supposedly cursed kotatsu incident?

Anna looked at them blankly, marble rolling between her fingers, choosing not to answer. Raising it to eye level, she closed one eye and stared at them through it. He saw her focus on Benzai, stare unwavering and then her gaze drifted in his direction.

Her pale fingers tightened around it.

"You're a kind man." she whispered. He blinked.

"Oh, erm - thank you." he said, shifting in his seat. She stared at him and for a brief moment, he thought he caught traces of grief and sympathy in her stare.

"You are a kind and brave man." She whispered again, her face morphing into something akin to pain, "It will be your undoing."

Oh great, now he was getting uncomfortable. But before he could respond, the woman got to her feet and walked over to the window, staring outside at the passing traffic, eyes focused intently on the life passing down below.

"You can look around in her room." Once again, the young woman just randomly spoke out, "Her room is over there." Lifting a dainty little finger, she pointed in the direction of a door, still not turning to face them. "I haven't touched it since she left." Benzai and Akiyama nodded and immediately went to the room. Gently opening the door, they entered the room carefully - only to be flooded in pink.

Everything was pink.

The walls were pink.

The bed was pink.

The furniture was pink.

The pink lighting was making _Benzai_ look pink.

"Miyabi really liked that color." They turned to see the woman who had wordless appeared behind them, looking forlorn. "She really liked the color pink - even though she let me have my precious red everywhere else." Ah, that explained the whole red theme in the house then. Akiyama nodded towards the room - he should be glad his roommate wasn't so fixated on things.

Except maybe a kotatsu.

"Anyone been in there?" he asked, looking around a bit. Anna shook her head, watching him work through some drawers.

"Just the police." she replied, fingers tracing patterns on her own dress. "An officer came by to inform me of Miyabi's death." Her fingers began to nervously wring the hem of her dress and Akiyama suddenly felt his heart clench. This poor woman had lost a close friend. "Then there was a formal investigation of the room." Akiyama nodded. Standard procedure.

"Did they find anything important?" Benzai asked, looking through the mess of books and stationery scattered on the study desk. Anna shook her head once more, eyes drifting towards Benzai before once again searching out Akiyama.

"Nothing - Miyabi-san didn't keep a lot of things around here. Most of her items were just clothes and jewelry." Akiyama nodded, checking inside the closet.

"So what do you remember about that day?" Benzai questioned, looking through some papers, "Did she seem any different? Had she been behaving any different than she usually does?" Anna shook her head, wringing her hands together in front of her, looking distressed.

"Nothing of the sort." she whispered, "Miyabi-san was very outgoing. She was the life of the party wherever she went. Cheerful, loving and a bit impatient to be honest. She hardly kept secrets - she couldn't actually - she just blurted out everything he knew." Akiyama nodded.

"Any enemies she might have had? Anyone she might have recently upset?" he asked and the woman shook her head.

"Miyabi-san could sometimes say things that would hurt you but nothing that would warrant...nothing that -" Akiyama reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I just-" Anna looked at the ground, mouth set in a tight line, "Sometimes, I just think she's going to walk through the front door and then things will go back to normal. But she's gone. She's gone and-" The rest of her words trailed off and she looked away, face paler than it was before. Akiyama opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Benzai. "Well, we can't find anything here. We'll be heading out - I thank you for your help." Anna nodded, her fingers twisting the fabric of her dress mercilessly. Her eyes seemed unsettled.

"Anna san?" Benzai suddenly called out hesitantly, not sure how to approach her, "Anna-san, who is this? I found it underneath the mattress." Akiyama's eyes snapped to the picture Benzai was holding - it was an odd place to keep a photo of someone. A young blonde man stood there with Miyabi, laughing. Anna blinked before a fond smile crossed her features.

"That is Tatara. He's a very close friend of ours - but he's been missing for a few days. It's alright though – he usually disappears from time to time but turns up later – he's mostly working at the Shizume Orphanage." Sandy blonde. Akiyama felt his heart thudding in his chest. Sandy blonde.

Male.

The third victim.

Swallowing hard, he met Benzai's eye, who looked equally as pale as he did. With shaking hands, he held up a PDA with a picture of a symbol on it. Fushimi had sent it to him sometime after when they had first walked in through the door.

"Anna-san...does this symbol mean anything to you?" The change in her demeanor was drastic. Her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, eyes wide. Her mouth trembled as she stared at the tattoo, her breathing getting uneven. Tears filled her eyes, a dark storm slowly building up inside them, body beginning to tremble a bit.

"Tatara...that's Tatara's shoulder – why – why do you have...?" Her eyes searched his, realization dawning upon them before a trembling hand came to cover her mouth, tears flowing freely down her face. "Oh God...Tatara. Tatara. He's - he's...has something happened to Tatara?" A wail broke past her lips as she collapsed where she stood, trembling and sobbing hysterically. Akiyama stood there next to her, feeling horrified. Reaching out, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to be of some assistance and he noticed Benzai grimly pull out a cell phone to inform everyone else what they had discovered. Akiyama stared down a the woman, hesitantly picking her up. She sobbed into his shoulder as he carried her to the sofa where he sat her down and went to get a glass of water.

A million thoughts ran through his brain.

Anna and Miyabi knew the third victim. This connected the victims together. Briefly, he wondered why the police hadn't investigated into the matter but let it go for the time being.

"Yes sir, I'll ask her to come with us." He turned to face Benzai, who was just getting off the phone, a troubled look crossing his features.

"We...have to take her back with us for questioning." Akiyama's heart immediately went out to the young woman. Bracing himself, he nodded at his partner, steeling himself for what he was about to do.

"Ah Anna-san, could you please come back with us to Shizume city? We need you to look at the body."

* * *

 **Kukuri's house, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17** **th** **September, Thursday.**

 **[2:00 AM]**

"Sakurai Yukizome?" Hidaka and Gotou flashed their IDs, "May we please come in? We want to ask you a few questions regarding your daughter." The woman who had opened the door gasped. Hidaka felt his chest tighten as he saw the woman's eyes tremble as she nodded, ushering them inside, her face showing clear signs of pain. Sakurai Yukizome looked exactly like her daughter – or she did in the pictures displayed on the walls. The woman in front of them seemed to have aged three years, her steps broken and heavy - defeated.

Losing her only child had killed her too in a way.

"What can I do for you?" The woman whispered once they were settled into the living room. Looking around, Hidaka noted how all the photos of the once cheery brunette who had lived in the house had been taken down and were scattered around the couch. He met Gotou's eyes and the two of them shared a sympathetic look. He noticed how Gotou had his tape recorder out again – the man liked to tape these interviews.

Talking to Miyabi's boyfriend had been a clear waste of time – Adolf K. Weissman had been too traumatized to speak about anything coherently. Hidaka and Gotou had basically just ignored the useless drivel he was sprouting and walked off, sighing at the utter waste of a trip. After leaving with nothing to show their superiors, the two had decided to visit Kukuri Yukizome's home to talk to her mother who had been single handedly raising her daughter after a rough and messy divorce.

Coughing, he decided to get straight to the point.

"Yukizome-san," he began, keeping his voice gentle but firm, "I understand you must be going through a lot right now. And we want you to know you can tell us to go away – but we would really like to talk to you about a few things if that's okay?" The woman nodded, her hand reaching up to wipe away a few stray tears.

"Yukizome-san," Gotou began gently, "Can you imagine anyone having a grudge against your daughter? A classmate, a co-worker at her part time?" The woman shook her head vehemently.

"Kukuri was a gentle girl if I'm completely honest – she liked working at the local orphanage and doing all sorts of community work like helping out at hospitals and the police station. She even worked as a server at the soup kitchen – I don't understand why anyone would -"

The rest of her sentence was trailed off as she dissolved into a mess of tears and grief. Hidaka felt his heart clench painfully, The woman had lost everything – and it wasn't in a kind manner.

Hidaka wondered what he'd do without his own boyfriend, Akiyama.

He waited a while for the woman to recompose herself before he pointed to the multiple pictures lying around.

"She was quite the achiever I see." He said as gently as he could, "You must have been very proud of her." The woman sent him a teary smile, eyes still damp and mouth trembling.

"I loved her so much..." There was a steely glint in her eyes as she pinned Hidaka in place with her stare, "Please – you must find her killer. I want him to suffer – suffer just like my daughter did. I-"

"Yukizome san..." He cut in, regretting Awashima wasn't there with them. She usually handled the grief stricken relatives and lovers, "Just one more thing we need to know and we'll leave you in peace – did Kukuri ever mention meeting someone new in the past few days?" The woman shook her head.

"Recently? No. She hasn't had time to make new friends to be completely honest. Like I said, she would be spending all her time doing community work." Gotou nodded and got up.

"If you don't mind, can we please look around her room for a bit?" He asked gently, switching off his recorder. Sakurai nodded and led them to her daughter's room. A detailed look around revealed nothing – her mother had been right, Kukuri was a very normal teenager. There was nothing there to suggest that any ongoing fights with her fellow students and a quick browsing through her diary revealed that she was not feeling any sort of discomfort from anyone or anywhere.

Gotou was working on her laptop, looking through her personal files to see if anything turned up.

"Oh hey Hidaka, check this out." He turned to face the other man and was startled to see a picture of a flame symbol on the screen – the mark of HOMRA.

"Doesn't this look just like what Fushimi san sent us?" Hidaka nodded, eyes wide.

"Anything else there Gotti?" The calmer of the two shook his head and pointed to the screen.

"Just the symbol – literally everything else is just typical teenage girl stuff and college applications." Hidaka nodded and began to make his way back to the doorway.

"Well I guess that's it for then. I showed Yukizome-san the symbol and she didn't recognize it so nothing much we can find out here. Let's head back to the others, it's almost 4." The other nodded and they quickly bid the woman goodbye and got into their car, heading towards their car. Sliding into the passenger seat, Gotou slipped the key into ignition and tried to start the car.

Nothing.

A blank look passed between the two of them and Hidaka buried his face into his hands.

"Why is it always us?"

* * *

 **Hotel Divine, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17th September, Thursday.**

 **[3:00 PM]**

"Sir, we have brought Anna-san." Benzai called out, leading the young woman and her boyfriend inside the large double doors. Sakuna Gojo had an arm around Anna, holding her close as she stumbled her way inside. For the past two hours, the young woman had shed so many tears - the two agents had felt bad for dragging her to their headquarters for questioning. The young man with her had appeared after she had called him and had a meltdown on the phone. Now, he kept shooting them lethal glares, his own eyes bright.

Tatara-san was a well liked man.

"Ah - Akiyama kun. Benzai kun." Munakata greeted them both. Benzai gently directed Anna and Sakuna in a couple of chairs and Awashima handed them both bottles of water. They accepted it gratefully, smiling at her tersely.

"Is it...is it true?" Sakuna finally whispered, "Is that...is that guy really dead?" A sob escaped the woman beside him and his arm around her tightened. Fushimi, who had been standing leaned against the wall came and stood in front of them.

"Not until someone identifies the body." He replied languidly, not even attempting to sound a bit heartbroken. Awashima sent him a warning look, which he ignored, eyes focused on the younger two before him.

Well, clearly, signs of not having slept for over twenty four hours were slowly showing their effects.

Sakuna scowled.

"Okay, and what do we have to do?" Anna chose not to say anything, her red eyes solely gazing on the red marble in her palm. Her mouth seemed to moving but no words were coming out and Akiyama wondered once more if the young woman could truly talk to the deceased. Fushimi was not in the mood to talk though because he signaled Awashima to take over and just sauntered his way out of the place – probably to go to his room and rest. Akiyama cast a sidelong look at their captain, wondering why he hadn't said anything and noticed the man staring intently at the board they had set up.

"Mikoto." All eyes went to the pale girl who had risen to her feet. "That is Mikoto." Anna walked over to Munakata and gently brushed her fingers against the picture, a soft look crossing her features. "I miss him." Munakata watched her silently, eyes bright and calculating.

"You haven't seen this man recently?" He asked casually, choosing not to question how she knew their lead suspect, eyes immediately darting to Andy and Kamo who nodded and slinked out of the room. Akiyama was confused -

Until he saw them both drag an irritable Fushimi back inside, looking the absolute definition of murder.

"Mikoto hasn't been home since three months." Anna whispered, hand trembling, "Mikoto hasn't been home and now Tatara's dead. Mikoto - Mikoto is in trouble isn't he?" She seemed to have worked herself up again, body trembling and eyes flooding with more tears. She reached out and grabbed Munakata's collar, eyes fixed solely on him. "Please - you have to help Mikoto. Tatara's already dead and Mikoto -" Her grip loosened as her feet gave out beneath her. Sakuna ran over just in time to catch her before she hit the ground, unconscious.

"Akiyama-san, get some water to splash her face with and someone help her into a chair!" Munakata ordered and Akiyama nodded, darting out of the room. When he returned he saw Sakuna angrily glaring at his superior who looked unaffected by the panting and raging man in front of him.

"I understand your concern for her health." Akiyama shivered. Ah - it was Munakata's business tone. "But we are on a tight schedule. Can you please inform us how you know Suoh Mikoto?" Sakuna cast one final glare in his direction before taking a deep breath running a hand over his face.

"Mikoto is Anna's adoptive dad."

Really - this case was fucking _bizarre_.

* * *

"You both should stay here in the hotel in case we need you again." Munakata told the younger couple and pushed his spectacles up his nose, "The PSIA will cover the cost, worry not." Sakuna and Anna nodded and Andy directed them away from the room. Before exiting the room, Sakuna delivered a well aimed kick at Fushimi's leg, making him yelp out in pain. It took all of their combined efforts to stop Fushimi from murdering the younger man right there and then. Munakata then glanced around at his weary subordinates.

"Ok everyone, I suggest all of you take the rest of the day off - it seems apparent you all could do with some rest. We regroup tomorrow at 6 AM sharp." Everyone nodded and began to leave, dragging their bodies out of the conference room. Everyone, that is, except Fushimi Saruhiko.

"Hidaka and Gotou faced some minor car trouble so they're still not here." He informed Munakata, clicking his tongue, "I texted them to return them directly back to their rooms although they'll give a full report of their interviews tomorrow." A slight pause in his words made Munakata look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sir, could it be that Suoh Mikoto has fled the city? Anna said he's been missing for about three months now." Munakata shook his head, his dark hair falling over his face.

"That - is not the situation, I can assure you Fushimi-kun." he replied, wondering how much Fushimi was going to yell at him now. "I...met the man this morning." The reaction was instantaneous. Fushimi, who had been balancing his chair on two legs brought it down with a loud crash, ogling at the other man incredulously.

"Excuse me?" The apparent shock and disbelief in his tone made Munakata wince a bit internally although he managed to keep up his exterior cool demeanor. "You made contact with the suspect? How? When? Where? And you didn't mention this until now because?"

"I met him this morning before you all handed me the file and his identity." Munakata couldn't help defend himself - Fushimi's wrath was not something he actually enjoyed incurring. Teasing him? - Yes. Making him genuinely angry? - No. "And for the record I did inform someone - you. Right now." He could see Fushimi's mind processing every bit of information he had been given and he could imagine the younger man connecting all the dots and sliding pieces into place.

"That boorish brute you said you met this morning." he finally said, eyes fixed on his face, "I'll throw a wild shot and guess that was him then. Munakata nodded. Fushimi folded his arms and gave him an puzzled look. "Why didn't you say anything - we could have gone and talked to him."

"He was leaving the restaurant."

And that was strictly not true.

Munakata didn't know why he hadn't informed the others. In fact, he hadn't even entertained he possibility of having to tell everyone. It hadn't occurred to him that yes, they could have gone and talked to Mikoto then only. He had been too busy reeling in shock.

Red hair, golden eyes.

Just his luck that the first person he was physically attracted to since most probably his birth turned out to be the lead suspect in the case. He gave Fushimi a grave look.

"I apologize for my mistake, Fushimi-kun." He said, violet eyes narrowing, "I assure you it won't happen again."

Munakata Reisi was a strong man with a sound mind.

He wouldn't let his feelings cloud his judgments.

Too bad the words sounded horribly false even to his own ears.

* * *

 **Police office, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **17** **th** **September, Thursday.**

 **[5:00 PM]**

Kuroh Yatogami looked at his chief, Isana and sighed, his long dark hair tied up in a ponytail.. They had managed to fix up some of the police stations, half of it in shambles and the other half barely standing, the only thing holding it together being the strong foundation. Most of their surrounding was a mess but they had managed to salvage a small bit of it to make it a working station, and Kuroh was surprised that their holding cells were in perfect condition.

It was weird.

Isana gave him a small smile.

"Looks like we have to search for Suoh Mikoto huh? He's missing again." The albino said, false cheeriness laced in his voice. Kuroh sighed again.

"Honestly," he said, looking at the mess all around them, "When will HOMRA stop causing us problems?"

* * *

 **Divine Hotel, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **18** **th** **September, Friday.**

 **[6:20 AM]**

"Did you just say Kukuri Yukizome used to work at the local orphanage?" Fushimi asked, blue eyes wide. Hidaka nodded, not entirely completely sure why everyone was giving him and Gotou incredulous look. The two had just finished delivering their report from yesterday and all of sudden everyone was actually shaking their heads a bit while Captain seemed to be in deep thought.

"How many of you are willing to bet that there's only one orphanage here?" Kamo asked, arms folded. Awashima walked over to one of the clear white boards and picked up a red marker.

"Let's go over what we know shall we?" She wrote down the names of all the victims in one neat row. "Miyabi Ameno, was friends with the third victim and Kukuri Yukizome worked in the orphanage where Totsuka Tatara was often found. All three had the mark of HOMRA on their crime scenes - Totsuka being the only member of the gang." Andy frowned.

"But that's about all we got." he pointed out, "We don't know anything else." Hidaka shook his head, his dark hair falling over one eye. "Also Suoh Mikoto is missing - no one has heard from him or seen him for the past three months." A shark click of tongue was heard and he turned to look at Fushimi only to have him look away, arms folded tightly. Munakata stepped forward.

"The police here isn't on good terms with the gang I presume." he asked, arching his eyebrow. Benzai nodded.

"Affirmative sir. Also, Isana Yashiro mentioned something about HOMRA having connections with the underground mafia." An unsettled look crossed his features. "I'm just surprised the police force didn't figure out the links between all these victims sooner. I keep feeling like we're missing something important in all of this." Munakata nodded in agreement.

"It seems the law enforcers here are a bit slacking." he agreed and Fushimi scoffed.

"But God forbid if you don't meet their eye while talking," he muttered darkly, angrily slouching in his seat even more, "Heaven forbid that - it's almost a legal offense - a threat to national security even!" Everyone tittered, albeit a few behind their hands. Fushimi Saruhiko was truly one petty person.

"Anyways," Gotou said, his eyes fixed on the ages of the victims, "We have that as well." Immediately the light mood in the room took a plunge. Akiyama frowned.

"I seriously hope he isn't planning to kill all these humans just to make a point."

"I'm afraid that is exactly what he's doing Akiyama san." Awashima said, blue eyes clouded over with fury, "And we have no way of stopping it unless we figure out who this man is." Munakata nodded but before he could get two words in, a knock on the door was heard and a timid head poked itself in.

"Ah - delivery for Munakata Reisi." the child, barely seven, said, holding out his hand which was holding a letter, "Someone told me to give this to you." Everyone looked at each other as Munakata approached the child and took the letter, flashing him a serene smile which the child shyly returned before his eyes were drawn to everyone else around the room. Turning red at the realization everyone was watching him, he bowed quickly and ran out, laughing.

"Children." there was no mistaking that voice. Or the click of the tongue that followed. Hidaka caught Akiyama's eye and both of them grinned - Fushimi hated kids.

"Oh." Everyone turned to face Munakata, who had opened the letter and had scanned through it, his face positively beaming. "It seems the unsub wishes to issue me a warning." That caught all of their attentions. Fushimi was out of his seat in a second and next to their superior in the next, snatching the paper out of his hands to look at the message.

"What does it say?" Awashima asked, blue eyes wide. Fushimi cleared his throat before he read it out loud.

" _You can not help anyone if you're broken_ \- Colorless." A disgusted look crossed his face. "Captain, please don't look so pleased, this is nothing for you to be happy about." And it was true, Munakata was wearing what one could easily define as a shit eating grin.

"Oya? I do not know what you're talking about Fushimi kun." Oh God, the man was almost purring. "Just because the unsub feels threatened by my presence in the city doesn't mean I'm happy." Fushimi gave him a wry look.

"You're mental." Awashima sent him a disapproving glare but Fushimi continued nonetheless. "You're mental - but I guess you're right. This proves we're moving in the right direction."

"He's scared." Akiyama added, "Well that's a sort of relief." Munakata smiled at the rest of them and for some reason, Akiyama could detect the sparkling aura he was emitting.

"Let's go out and search for Suoh Mikoto ourselves." The words were sudden but firm and instead of questioning it, they all just nodded and began to file out of the room. Akiyama made his way to Fushimi.

"May I see the note?" he asked, holding out his hand. Fushimi clicked his tongue and handed it to him. Akiyama studied the note intently. Strange, the words were almost as if the man was regretting that Munakata wouldn't be able to help anyone. Of course this was a speculation but it still was something that was nagging him in the back of his mind. He looked up and saw Fushimi's eyes reflecting the same concern as him.

Ah - so he was not alone.

"Could be a case of multiple personality disorder." he said under his breath and Fushimi shrugged, something Akiyama understood as _It's too early to say yet_.

Munakata was picking up his car keys.

"Oh no you don't." Fushimi said suddenly, "Captain, you're coming on patrol with me." Their superior paused, looking a bit startled before teasing smile crossed his lips.

"Oya? Is Fushimi-kun worried someone might attack me?"

"Yes." Ah – seemed like Fushimi wasn't going to rise to the bait this time round. Blue eyes were staring at the older man in absolute determination. "You're a prime target as of five minutes ago and I really don't want to deal with the paperwork that's gonna pile up if you die." Akiyama almost laughed.

"So cruel Fushimi kun." Munakata replied, smiling, eyes glinting like a hidden knife, concealed in one's clothing, "I wish you'd be more honest about your feelings. How does Yata Misaki-kun even deal with you?" And that, Akiyama decided was his cue to leave.

* * *

 **Downtown, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **18** **th** **September, Friday.**

 **[3:00 PM]**

"Captain I am done! Done I tell you! It's hot, we've been on patrol all day and there is still no sign of Suoh Mikoto." Munakata glanced at his subordinate in surprise. The two of them were standing in an alley, near the edge of the city, outside an old abandoned factory. They had heard rumors that Mikoto usually came here to rest and blow off some steam so the two of them had decided to check it out.

"Oh? Tired already?" A smirk crept across his face, "See this is why everyone tells you to eat hea-"

"Oh fuck you." Fushimi flipped him off, "We're done for the day. Awashima and the others have already returned to the hotel and I'm hungry." Munakata grinned at his favorite subordinate.

"Well, if Fushimi kun say-" the rest of his words were cut off as he felt Fushimi's body slam against him, shoving him to the ground behind a large dumpster and rolling into defensive stance just as a loud noise shattered the silence around them. Munakata blinked. What? In a daze, he realized that someone had just fired a gun.

At them.

Immediately he had his own gun out and he could see Fushimi slowly edging away from where they both were blocked from the shooter view. Nodding his head, he peered around the corner just in time to see a hooded figure jumping over a few trashcans and running into the factory. Cursing, he turned to tell Fushimi only to realize the younger, more agile male had already given chase. Narrowing his eyes, he got up and winced. He had fallen hard against the wall, his shoulder was aching and Munakata had no doubt it was going to bruise horribly in the coming future.

Fushimi had literally knocked the breath out of him.

Leaning against the nearest support, which just turned out to be the dumpster, he pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Ah Awashima-san." He said, smiling wryly, adjusting his glasses up his nose with long elegant fingers. "We may have a sticky situation that requires backup."

* * *

Footsteps echoed in front of him and around him. Fushimi paused at a turn and strained his ears to determine where the noise of the light footsteps was coming from. Taking a quick left, he dodged all the gigantic machinery and made his way into an empty space only to catch sight of a figure moving away from him.

He had a split second to decide. His fingers immediately went to the weapon concealed in his jacket. Holding it in his hands, he narrowed his eyes, steadying his heartbeat.

 _Breathe._

 _Aim._

 _Release._

A satisfied smirk crossed his lips as the shooter let out a small scream of pain and fell to the floor clutching his right upper arm, blood pouring from the wound inflicted by Fushimi. Staggering to his feet, the man quickly threw something in his direction and it was a second too late for Fushimi to realize it was a smoke bomb. Coughing and eyes watering, he could barely make out the figure running away and felt his body ignite with anger.

"This fucking bastard, I'm going to skin him alive!"

* * *

 **Hotel Divine, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **18th September, Friday.**

 **[8:00 AM]**

Munakata stepped out from the back entrance of the hotel, a cigarette clutched between his fingers. Reaching up, he ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply. Taking a deep drag of burning nicotine, he held it in for a moment before releasing it through his mouth, watching the small tendrils of smoke dissipate into the night sky.

"Reishi."

"I do not recall either giving you my name nor allowing you to use my first name Suoh Mikoto. Nice to see you've finally decided to crawl out of whatever hole you were hiding in." He said calmly, not even having to turn his head to see who was speaking he was speaking to, the other's voice washing over him like cold rain.

"Heard ya got into trouble." The redhead stepped out from the shadows, his chains clinking together.

"I could say the same for you." Munakata side-eyed the man who had bandages wrapped around his right arm, right below his shoulder joint. "May I inquire where you got that injury from?" Mikoto shrugged, pulling out his own cigarette. Golden eyes met violet.

"Go' ttacked." He grunted, lighting up the stick. Munakata had him pinned to the wall in five seconds, hand gripping the front of the collar firmly.

"You're either incredibly stupid or think I'm incredibly stupid." He growled out, "You attack me and my subordinate and just come here? Are you really that conceited? Or is it just that you're a single celled protozoan without a functioning nervous system?" Mikoto on his part, seemed highly unfazed.

"Wow, if ya wanted me pressed up against your body ya could have asked nicely." Munakata let out a low growl and Mikoto sighed. "Didn' attack you okay? I was here to tell you something important." Munakata stared into his golden eyes.

Trust.

Munakata shouldn't trust him.

He absolutely _shouldn't_ trust this barbarian.

Letting out a sigh, he pulled back.

"Don't make me regret it."

* * *

Okay not enough MikoRei as of yet but I swear I'm gonna make it up to you guys in the next chapter :3


	3. Crossing Boundaries

Prompt #3: Second Chance.

This chapter was typed in one day and I barely made it! O-O" Like I have just 5 hours left on the clock. *phew* But I made it in time so yay!

Also, OTL.

Basically the theme was hard to incorporate into the fic. But I think I managed it? Oh well. v.v" You win some, you lose some.

And sometimes you lose all the time. OTL

* * *

 **"Crossing Boundaries"**

 _"When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks into you."_

 **\- Friedrich Nietzsche.**

 **Police Holding Cell,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[5:00 AM]**

Munakata Reisi could not understand how he got into this situation with Suoh Mikoto pressing him against the cell wall, furiously attacking his lips. He supposed it was long overdue, if one was to judge all the tension they had had between them for the whole of yesterday. But as Mikoto's teeth roughly bit his lower lip and his hands managed to work open the first few buttons of his jacket, Munakata wondered when his life spiraled so out of control.

Certainly a week before today if someone had told him he'd be making out with a prisoner - a brute and a barbarian no less - in a police station, after asking Saruhiko Fushimi to disable all the security cameras, he'd tell them to kindly take their required medicines and stop uttering such nonsense.

But here he was, pressed up against the large frame, his own fingers tangled in the others crimson locks, pulling none too gently, their tongues engaged in a fiery dance, fighting for dominance.

There was nothing gentle about the kiss.

Munakata supposed it all began when Mikoto first showed up before him on Friday.

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **18th September, Friday.**

 **[9:00 PM]**

"Okay Captain," Fushimi strolled into the conference room, "What was so important that you..." The rest of his words trailed off as he stood there gawking at the man standing beside his captain, looking, if Fushimi were to guess right, dead asleep on his feet. He stared at the man for a few more seconds before turning to face his superior, his face blank. "I'm glad to see you finally brought your boyfriend to meet the family but I don't think he'll be accepted." Munakata's laugh echoed out loud, waking the red head next to him.

"Wha' happened?" Golden eyes scanned the room and he blinked. "Who's the twerp?"

"Oh look, it speaks." Fushimi dead panned, "Captain what is the meaning of this? Why is there a missing suspect lounging - sorry, let me rephrase that - _sleeping_ in our work space?" Munakata smiled at him, looking quite pleased with himself. Fushimi really did not understand what the man was thinking. It was like Munakata had made it his mission in life to give him miniature heart attacks.

"He's here to help."

Many miniature heart attacks.

"How nice of him." Really, Fushimi wanted to bang his head against a wall - repeatedly - until he passed out. This was supposed to be one of the smartest people he had ever met - Fushimi was really reconsidering his initial judgments about this man. Perhaps he was going senile - old age was truly a curse.

"Really Fushimi, can't you be a little more hospitable? I don't recall you ever being so hostile with Yata Mis-"

"You say his name one more time, and I swear to God, there's going to be a very elaborate murder scene here tomorrow that they won't even link back to me." Fushimi threatened, blue eyes flashing dangerously. Munakata's eyes sparkled mischievously, his mouth already forming the words which were no doubt going to aggravate the young man even more.

"You two related or somethin'?" Both heads snapped in the red head's direction who gave them a questioning stare, head tilted.

"No!"

"Yes."

The answers were spoken at the same time - well one was shouted out loud, with a look of disgust etched into the speaker's features. Fushimi was glaring at the older man, face twisted in a partial grimace.

"Fushimi-kun, you wound me." Munakata said, his face looking sorrowful, arms spread wide. "I thought you and I were family."

"Oh that's amazing - go jump in the lake." Fushimi muttered, folding his arms. "Why is he here?" Munakata sighed, walking over to a blank board and picked up a file of their investigations. Flipping through it, he opened it to a certain page and handed it to his subordinate who wordlessly looked at it and read through it. Not quite grasping what the other man wanted him to see, he raised an eyebrow. "What - oh."

 _"The suspect is shorter than 178 cm."_

The height.

Suoh Mikoto was not in anyways shorter than he was. Nor did he have a weak upper body in any way.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his dark hair. Eyeing the redhead, he suddenly realized that the man was bleeding.

"Your boyfriend is ruining the carpet." he pointed out, suddenly feeling stupid for not noticing ahead of time, "Kinda very coincidental he has a wound exactly where I injured that man who attacked us today huh." Perhaps Mikoto had planned the height thing to throw them off. Maybe behind that bored looking mask was the mind of an evil genius.

And maybe pigs could fly.

"He is, isn't he?" Fushimi noted how not even once had Munakata denied him being the other's boyfriend and chalked it up as his superior being a weirdo again. Probably wanted to freak out Suoh Mikoto. "Mikoto, if you could please let Fushimi-kun attend to your wound?" Fushimi stared at him blankly - part of him seething in anger, part of him horrified and all of him indignant.

Why him?

Approaching one of the desks holding their supplies brusquely, he nodded towards a chair and all but growled at the larger man to sit down. Mikoto sauntered over, either very good at completely ignoring Fushimi's anger and glares or very oblivious to them. Falling heavily into the chair he extended his arm and Fushimi wrinkled his nose, undoing he badly wrapped bandages around what seemed to be a not cleaned wound. Pulling out some antiseptic, he began to clean up, not even bothering to warn the other that it was going to sting a bit.

Mikoto didn't even flinch.

It was infuriating.

Couldn't the man even blink or do anything to show he registered pain? He quickly finished cleaning the wound and inspected it a bit - just about to apply a cotton gauze when he realized something important.

"Hey Captain, his wound -" he began, suddenly understanding everything, "This guy is so not the man who attacked us today." Munakata nodded, smiling knowingly.

"I thought you'd understand. Have you removed the bullet?" He turned to ask Mikoto who was watching them, looking a bit confused. Fushimi didn't blame him. He quickly finished tying up the bandage and stepped away, looking at his work critically.

"I suppose this'll have to do for now." he sighed and turned to face Munakata. "Okay you asshole, what do we have to do now?"

"Take a manners and language class I presume." Really - was there ever a time he could be serious? "Oh and there's only one thing left to do now."

"What?" The question came in a deep rumble and Fushimi inched away from him, suddenly missing his own rather loud, rambunctious redhead. Munakata smirked. Pointing a dainty finger in Mikoto's direction, a devious look crossed his features.

"Arrest him of course."

* * *

 **Police Holding Cell,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[5:02 AM]**

A small moan escaped his lips as Mikoto's mouth attached itself to his neck, eyes shut tightly, head tilted to allow the other man more access. His hands tightened their grip around the other man's back, helpless against the onslaught of the other man's mouth creating marks all along his pale neck.

Damn he was going to have to wear a high collar tomorrow and Fushimi was not going to let him live it down.

Rough hands traced patterns all over his skin, mapping out a path only he knew. Munakata could not help but let little sounds of pleasure escape his mouth - it had been a long time since he had gotten so intimate with anyone.

Mikoto bit down hard at the juncture between his neck and shoulder and was soothing the wound with his tongue even before Munakata could register the pain. His glasses had at one point been carelessly tossed at the hard bed in the cell. Both of them were missing their shirts and Munakata wondered how long they could keep this up before someone walked in on them.

"Reisi." The way Mikoto said his name sent shivers down his spine as the man pulled away, eyeing him with pure unadulterated lust. His breath got caught in his throat as once again their lips met, a deep throaty chuckle escaping the other man. "You look good all flustered like that."

Glaring at him slightly, he decided not to answer and opted to forcefully kiss him back, hands running up his sides, his nails leaving tiny red trails and resting on his shoulders. Mikoto hissed and once again Munakata found himself pushed against the wall, Mikoto's hands travelling all over is front.

Then a single hand reached down and unzipped his pants.

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[11:30 AM]**

"Did you hear? They caught Suoh Mikoto!"

"What?"

"No way!" The entire station was in state of excitement and Kamo wondered how they could be so lively when their basic work space was under construction. All the rumble had been removed and they were fixing up the place, workers having taped off half the area. Kamo looked at his chief and wondered how and when he and Fushimi had managed to capture Mikoto Suoh. There was something oddly fishy about the whole story. Kamo didn't want to doubt them but "We decided to do some late night patrol and saw him trying to make a run for it near the edge of town." seemed too...not right.

"Captain, the man has been in the interrogation room for five hours but he refuses to say anything!" Fushimi's low agitated drawl broke Kamo out of his reverie, and he concentrated on his colleagues. So far all of them had gone to talk to the man but no one had managed to make him say a word. He simply sat there with a slanted smile and eyes half lowered.

His hands had been shackled but it still didn't keep both Andy and himself from shuddering when he had looked at them, smirking and had rumbled out a hello. The way he had stared at them had reminded him of a lion, watching his prey. Waiting.

Gulping, Kamo focused on Fushimi's conversation with Munakata.

"-he refuses to even call for a lawyer godammit! He's getting on my nerves." Munakata chuckled lightly, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Careful Fushimi kun." he teased, "Make sure he stays out of your head okay?" Kamo couldn't hear what Fushimi said next but the intended recipient did and Munakata raised his eyebrow as Fushimi shot him a smug smile.

"You kind of forget they're not really related huh?" he turned to face Hidaka who was watching them from where he sat, facing backwards on a seat, his abnormally long legs straddling the back. "But I guess in a way, Munakata san is Fushimi san's guardian - or used to be once upon a time." Kamo nodded.

"Fushimi's father's case was the first one Munakata san ever solved."

"Did they really blame Fushimi san for his father's death?" Akiyama questioned, holding out a mug of coffee to his boyfriend, something Hidaka gratefully accepted. "I heard they were seconds away from convicting Fushimi san until Munakata san produced some hard evidence that proved it was Kisa Fushimi who murdered her husband." Benzai nodded.

"It was Munakata san's very first case and even though Fushimi san doesn't admit to it, it's totally the reason he joined the force." A smirk crossed his lips. "Tsunhiko." Andy leapt forward and covered his mouth with his hands.

"Shush!" he said, eyes darting nervously towards the aforementioned person, "If he hears you, we're all screwed. He's gonna start tossing daggers at us." Kamo smiled. Fushimi Saruhiko was the only person in the squad who carried knives around with him along with a gun - Munakata had playfully dubbed him as his 'special hidden weapon user'.

"Well, it seems I will have to have a talk with Suoh Mikoto myself." Everyone turned to face Munakata, who was walking towards the room, smiling serenely, his strides long and even. Kamo went over to the large glass screen and saw Munakata gracefully enter the room and slide into the chair before Mikoto. He watched as Munakata pulled out his cell phone and in a few moments, their voice transmission was cut. They could only watch what was happening.

"What's going on?" Isana demanded, eyes widening, "Why can't we hear anything." Fushimi gave them a bored look.

"Captain said Mikoto was more likely to trust us if we pretended no one is listening in on their conversation. Captain will mentally record their entire conversation." They watched as Mikoto said something to Munakata and their superior answered with raise of his eyebrow.

"Munakata san is truly incredible." Hidaka said, impressed, "Look, Suoh Mikoto is talking." Fushimi nodded. Kamo turned to look at Fushimi and saw he was nervously biting his lower lip, his eyes watching the scene unfold before him.

 _He's really worried about_ _Munakata_ _san huh._

Reaching out, he placed a hand on his shoulder. Fushimi had been concentrating too intently on the discussion inside and jumped slightly, startled. Kamo offered him a small smile.

"Captain is a strong man, he can handle this." he said, eyes drifting back to the man himself before going back to meet Fushimi's, "We should trust him." Fushimi clicked his tongue irritable and turned his back to the window.

"He's an idiot and that makes it very hard to trust him." he said shortly, walking away, "Call me in when you're done, I need to make a phone call."

* * *

Walking out of the building, Fushimi pulled out his cell phone and called the first number on his speed dial.

A single ring and then someone picked up.

"You asshole it's been two days and not a word from you - I thought you died and was about to sell your stuff on eBay." the voice on the other end snapped before he could even get a word in.

"Hello to you too Misaki." Fushimi said dryly, "And for the record, my stuff would fetch a higher price on Amazon - just for future reference." He could see the little ball of hell fire scowling.

"Shut up you bastard, don't call me Misaki when I'm mad at you! Also, what do you mean by 'for future reference.' Bullshit! You're not allowed to die on me!" Fushimi laughed, walking further down the street. He watched as people passed by, a smile fixed on his lips. Misaki always had a way to make him feel less tense.

"Oi shitty monkey, what's wrong?" Fushimi wondered if he should point out that Misaki's insult totally contradicted his concern but let it slide. Sighing, he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I have a small problem." he finally admitted. He paused and soon he heard what sounded like Misaki trying to smother his laughter into his hand. "I swear Misaki, I'm going to kick you when I get back."

"I'm sorry." the other man was laughing more openly now, "But I can't believe you just admitted to having a problem." Fushimi glared at the opposite wall.

"If you're going to be unhelpful, I'm putting down the phone." he snapped. There was a conscious effort made to tone down the laughter, he could tell.

"Okay okay, what's the problem?" Fushimi bit his lip. Technically, he wasn't allowed to say anything about the case to anyone. And that included Misaki. But he could play around the edges right?

"Munakata is being stupid." There was a snort from the other side and Fushimi remembered that Misaki always considered Munakata as stupid. "I'm afraid this case is gonna end badly."

"If it's affecting you that badly then you should just take a leave and come home." Misaki offered before pausing slightly. "But of course...you're too much of a stubborn bastard to do that so I have faith in you. Just give him a chance okay? You gave me one that time – and then when I messed up, you gave me another. Trust him - or come home. I m-m-miss you." Fushimi smirked.

"You just want me back so we can have sex." he accused him, already imagining the look on Misaki's face. There was a loud squawk and a lot of cursing from the other end and spluttering replies consisting of "That's not - " and "I didn't -" and "you just -" Fushimi laughed again.

"Okay Mi-sa-ki," he said, "I have to go now. I'll call you up later okay."

"What no, don't you dare hang up you fucking loser, just -"

"I love you." Fushimi disconnected the call and stared back in the direction of the station. "Well, time to head back to play the devil's advocate."

* * *

 **Police Holding Cell,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[5:04 AM]**

Munakata's fingers immediately wrapped around Suoh's hand, eyes narrowing.

"We are not having sex in this kind of place." he hissed out, already regretting his decision. His pants were feeling uncomfortably tight and he knew he couldn't simply walk out of here in such a state - something Mikoto knew very well. The redhead grinned and leaned in for another searing kiss before his lips made their way to his ear.

"Don't worry, I won't be having sex with you." he whispered, his voice low and making heat go rushing to his head - and other parts of him. He eased his hand away from his wrist and pulled him closer by his hips, grinding up against him slowly, making Munakata whimper a bit. '"We can just...get rid of -" His hands once again moved toward his belt buckle and this time Munakata made no move to stop him as he got rid of it, easing the pressure on his cock, his face flush and eyes glazed over. "your problem."

A loud gasp echoed around the room as Mikoto's hand wrapped around his shaft, his back arching off the wall. "Fuck."

"Language officer." Mikoto whispered into his ear, "We can't have your subordinates hear their uptight Captain speak such foul language." A shiver wracked up his frame but Munakata didn't get to answer as Mikoto began to move his hand and all sense of just being left Munakata's mind.

Shit, it really had been a long time.

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[11:45 AM]**

"Suoh Mikoto." Munakata said, entering the interrogation room and silently closing the door behind him, "How nice of you to finally join us." Mikoto said nothing but sent him an amused look. Munakata pulled out his cell phone and called Fushimi.

"Ah – Fushimi kun, could you please cut the voice transmission from this room? I'd like to talk to Suoh Mikoto one on one." There was a small pause before his subordinate sent him an affirmative. Looking up, he smiled serenely.

"Now Mikoto, can you please act as if I'm grilling you for information?"

"Sure thing Munakata. What do ya wanna talk 'bout?"

"We don't have to talk about anything - just move your mouth like you're speaking."

"That sounds boring." Munakata suspected Mikoto was playing with him. And he was right. "Tell me about yourself Munakata."

"Seems awfully rude to ask me something without offering anything yourself." he said, raising his eyebrow disdainfully. Mikoto laughed, remembering to make sure that his expressions remained sly and smug.

"K' then," he grunted, "I'm an only child. Your turn." Munakata raised his eyebrow once more. Seriously?

"I have an older brother." he said stiffly, folding his arms and staring at the redhead. "Your turn." Mikoto's golden orbs were glittering with amusement.

"I have an adopted kid." he shot back, looking pleased with himself. Hah, two could play that game.

"So do I." Well kind of. All of his team were his children. And there was Fushimi - sort of - he'd stab him a million times if he ever said it out loud though. Mikoto's eyes widened a fraction - just a fraction. Good, he remembered they were being watched.

"Are you talking about that pasty nerdy kid?" he asked, looking intrigued, "He looks like he hates you though."

" _That's because he probably does hate me,_ " Munakata thought fondly, " _In a highly un-hating manner._ " Out loud, he coughed and stared at Mikoto. "You don't seem like the type to adopt a child." Honestly, he didn't. His mannerism was far too careless and carefree to have ever been a father. Mikoto shrugged.

"Anna is my second chance." he whispered. Munakata cocked his head, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Second chance at what?" he inquired, not completely understanding.

"At family." Mikoto smiled sadly, "I lost my family when I was a kid - including my younger sister. Anna looks a lot like her though. I just -" A deep shuddering breath. "I just couldn't leave her in that orphanage." His eyes were down cast, a sight that made Munakata's heart clench painfully - he didn't like seeing that look on his face. Mikoto looked in his direction and he must have been looking a bit sad himself because Mikoto let out a small laugh.

"Don't look at me like that Munakata - I feel like you're bringing me down." Munakata huffed.

"Don't give me such utter garbage with that look on your face." he snapped, "I'm-" the rest of his words were interrupted by a knock on the door and Kamo stuck his head inside.

"Sir, we have a bit of a situation. If you and Suoh Mikoto could come look at this kid?" Munakata rose from where he was sitting and motioned Mikoto to follow who nodded and complied to his request. Once they reached the main office, their eyes widened at the chaotic scene before them.

A young blonde boy, being held down by two officers, looked up at them and his eyes brightened immediately.

"Mikoto san!"

* * *

 **Police Holding Cell,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[5:06 AM]**

Mikoto's mouth was hot against his skin, trailing kisses down his body, never breaking eye contact. His mouth sucked and nibbled on his skin at his hips, lips leaving red marks and heated skin in their wake. Munakata knew where this was going and he didn't like it one bit but he felt like his body rebelled against him and craved more of Mikoto's touch.

"This..is...absurd." He gasped out and once more, Mikoto let out a chuckle that made his mind go haywire. Oh God, that sound should be illegal.

Logically speaking, Munkata knew there was nothing that spectacular about Mikto's voice. He had heard a lot of people talk – plenty who could be considered God's vocal gift to the human race but there was something about Mikoto's lazy drawl that made him shiver. It wasn't anything special but it still seemed to make him want him to do things he didn't actually imagine doing before.

Mikoto's teeth bit down hard against on his thigh making him yelp.

"Focus Munakata..." He glared at him.

"Yes well you're making that hard to -" A loud breathy moan escaped his lips as he threw his head back. Mikoto smirked although it was hard to tell over him deep-throating Munakata in one go. Pulling away, he grinned at the sight of a flushed, panting Munakata before leaning back in to once again take Munakata right down to the base. Bobbing his head, he still somehow managed to maintain eye contact. It was most probably the intense gaze that finally made Munakata come undone – spilling himself into Mikoto's mouth who didn't even pull away, swallowing everything down and then finally moving away, smirking at him.

"That's a good look on you, _Captain_." Munakata couldn't even find it in himself to respond.

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[12:00 PM]**

"What's going on here?" Fushimi demanded, as soon as he entered the place. Police officers stood high on alert and Munakata and Mikoto were both present, Mikoto in chains. Andy and Kamo seemed to be restraining a young blonde man, who was glaring at everyone. Akiyama stood a little steps away, holding a knife and Hidaka was offering him a plastic evidence bag. Fushimi silently assessed the situation before making his way towards his captain.

"What happened?" He demanded and Hidaka pointed to the blonde kid who was struggling against his captors.

"He just attacked us."

* * *

." well. See you tomorrow. *exits*


	4. Burn Out

Well this chapter certainly took a toll on me. I almost didn't make it - again. Dammit I need to be better prepared for this shit. "OTL Sometimes I wonder about my life choices - I wonder about it a lot. (￣ ￣|||)

And ohemgeeee we're more than half done with the week. ∑(O_O;)

What? Where did the time go?

* * *

 **"Burn Out"**

 _"Nothing is easier than to denounce the evil doer; Nothing more difficult than understanding him.."_

 **-** **Fyodor Dostoevsky.**

 **Neko's Diner, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[7:06 PM]**

"Well, this case seems to be getting us nowhere." Hidaka grumbled and Andy couldn't agree with the brunet more. They had just spent the entire day looking into yesterday's events and so far, nothing seemed to make any sense.

"All we know is that someone is majorly targeting HOMRA - trying to set them up." Akiyama pointed out. The entire crew sat in one of the city's local diners, trying to have a peaceful dinner ever since they had first arrived in the city. It was a well lit place, with a warm atmosphere and as soon as he had stepped into the small shop, Andy had felt himself loving it immediately. Minutes later, the waitress had come about with their orders and soon all of them were feeling completely refreshed and relaxed.

"Of course, we can only assume that someone is trying to put the blame on HOMRA." Kamo pointed out, taking a sip of his coffee, "After all, that kid Eric could have been lying." Andy sighed dramatically.

"Argh! I wish Fushimi san and Munakata san would just work their magic already." he said, pouting. "They're usually so quick to catch onto things." Yesterday's events were still burnt into his mind.

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[12:00 PM]**

"Mikoto san!" the blonde kid cried out, blue eyes lighting up at the sight of the redhead. Munakata and Mikoto stood in front of the door leading to the interrogation room and there was a mildly surprised look on Mikoto's face. The blonde was fighting against his captors, trying to reach the HOMRA leader, his face set in what Andy could only assume was a permanent scowl.

"For such a scrawny teenager, he sure is strong," Andy thought darkly, as he desperately struggled along with Kamo to keep him from getting away. "Where is he getting all this strength from goddammit!"

"What's going on here?" Both Kamo and Andy looked up to see Fushimi striding inside, frowning. "What happened?" Hidaka, who had been helping Akiyama bag the weapon, pointed at the squirming teen.

"He just attacked us." The incredulity in his voice was totally justifiable seeing as why on earth would someone in their right mind think that attacking a room full of armed officers with only a small pen knife was a good idea. Andy didn't understand it at all. Fushimi glanced at the blonde and sighed.

"Quit struggling kid, you've already lost." Andy knew he wasn't the one Fushimi was talking to yet he felt a shiver go down his spine at the sound of his cold apathetic voice. Ah, Fushimi was truly the cruelest being Andy had every faced - and he was working for the government looking for serial killers. Fushimi pointed to the blonde who had fallen limp in their hands.

"You," he said, eyes narrowing, "Come with me. You two," he said eyeing Kamo and Andy with disdain, "Let him go. I want to speak to him alone." Andy immediately let go, out of habit of listening to everything that man said. But Kamo held on, a stubborn and concerned look crossing his face.

"I'm sorry but I can't risk him attacking you." he said simply, before making eye contact with the sullen teen being held down. "What's your name?" The blonde glared at him for a full minute, as if thinking something over before mumbling out something in a barely audible tone. Andy tilted his head.

"Hmm..?"

"Eric...Eric Sult." the boy muttered out loud at the same time Mikoto spoke out.

"Eric?" Munakata turned to look at their prisoner.

"Oya? You know the boy here Suoh Mikoto?" he questioned and Mikoto turned to look at Munakata slowly. Andy didn't completely understand why but it seemed that Mikoto was smirking. At their Captain. Suggestively.

"Why jealous?" Oh God, what was that man doing? Was he trying to have Munakata kill him?

"You would like that wouldn't you Suoh Mikoto." Wait - did Munakata just respond to that without a threat? Before Andy could wrap his head around it, Fushimi stepped forward and eyed the blonde critically.

"Why are you here?" he asked, "You can't possibly be here to break out Suoh Mikoto." A look of pure disbelief crossed his face. "You are aren't you - you're here to break him out." A skeptical look soon followed along with a hint of mockery. "What are you an idiot."

" _Oh shut the fuck up, you sure like the sound of your own voice don't you._ " Eric snapped back and Andy blinked. It was a good thing he was half Italian and knew other languages because -

"Did that dude just speak English?" Hidaka said, eyes wide, "Hey Gotti, what'd he say?" Gotou seemed torn between telling Hidaka what the blue eyed teen had said and not wanting to say it because Fushimi undoubtedly would kill him for repeating those words.

Andy didn't blame him.

Fushimi raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

" _Oh, is that so_." he countered, speaking immaculate English, " _Well I suppose there are_ _better_ _things to listen to - such as your cries of pain when I have the answer beaten and tortured out of you._ "

Eric looked at him stonily. " _You don't scare me, you government dog_."

" _Well, we'll see after a few hours shall we?_ " Fushimi replied, eyes lighting up and mouth forming the most twisted version of a smile Andy had ever had the discomfort of witnessing.

" _Oi -_ " Mikoto interrupted, " _That's going too-_ "

"Oya? The barbarian speaks English?" For someone who was surprised, Munakata looked way too pleased. The redhead simply rolled his eyes and glared at Fushimi who glared right back. Eric looked between the two before finally settling his gaze upon Mikoto.

" _I got your_ _messa_ _ge_ _._ " He said, mouth turning down into a small frown. " _I got your message this morning._ " Munakata turned to look at Mikoto, head cocked.

"Hmm? What message?" There was something in the way Mikoto looked at their captain that made it feel like there was some sort of secret conversation going on. Of course that was a pretty stupid thought because why would there be one? Mikoto shrugged.

" _Du_ _nno_." He grunted out. Eric looked at Mikoto confused.

" _But you sent me a text an hour ago_ _saying I should come here and help you out since the police were being idiots again_." He whined. " _I came immediately – though you never mentioned the_ _feds_ _being here. What gives_?" Mikoto furrowed his eyebrow.

" _Eric_ ," he began, looking a bit impatient, " _I've been in here since last night. They took my cellphone away from me._ " Eric paused before digging his hand into his pocket. Kamo was about to grab his hand when he pulled out a small silver cellphone and began to work something before passing it over to Munakata silently. Munakata raised his eyebrow and turned it over. There on the back was small sticker of the HOMRA symbol.

"That's the HOMRA emergency phone." Mikoto explained as Munakata read the text, "All members of HOMRA carry a simple disposable cell I can send texts to." Munakata nodded understandingly.

"I see." He said, looking at the message cryptically, "Well I suppose this would cause an uproar among your followers." He turned to face Eric. "Did any of your other comrades get this message?" Eric gave him a confused look, eyebrows furrowing - he didn't respond. Mikoto sighed.

"Eric doesn't understand Japanese." He mumbled out, "He was a kid being sold across borders and HOMRA saved him."

"Oh?" Munakata's eyes widened slightly as he turned to look back at the blonde kid as did everyone else. A sudden rush of sympathy made Andy reach out and pat the boy on the back only to have him reel away, eyeing him with disgust.

"He was sold as a sex slave." Mikoto corrected himself, as if explaining why Eric didn't want the other touching him. "Wait, I'll just -" Coughing, he faced Eric and began to once again amaze Andy by speaking in fluent English. " _Eric, did anyone else get this text_?" Eric shook his head.

" _No,_ " he replied, " _That's why I thought you must have been alone in here. I mean why else would you call only me?_ " Mikoto nodded and turned to look at Munakata, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I know I'm a suspect and all – but do you guys really need to resort to such dirty tactics to get to me? I thought you were above this Munakata Reisi." The way he said it made Andy think that Mikoto was almost accusing Munakata who in turn looked at him condescendingly.

"I did not send a text to any members of your gang Suoh Mikoto." He declared loudly, "And I plan on finding out who did. Kuro san!" The dark haired police officer stepped forward, looking grim. "Can you please take this young man inside – and get him something to eat, he looks positively starved." Seeing Kuro opening him mouth in protest, he held up a hand to silence him. "We'll pay it out of our funds if we have to but this boy is going to be the key in finding the culprit." Turning to face Eric, he gave him a scrutinizing stare. " _Your orders were to stab me correct_?" Eric nodded, face turning a bit red as he looked away, blonde bangs falling over one eye.

"What!?" All the people present in the room shouted at the same time, eyes wide. Munakata nodded.

"It seems like Colorless has made another attempt to assassinate me." he said, eyes narrowing. Andy watched as the redhead next to him suddenly scowled. "No matter, let us go and have a look at Suoh's mobile. Kuro san, take Eric here to the other room and do as I said. Isana san, take me to where we kept Suoh Mikoto's things. Fushimi, you take Suoh back to his holding cell." Fushimi made a face but moved to do as Munakata had said but Suoh glared at Munakata.

Andy wondered once again why it reminded him of a lion.

"Oi, don't treat me like a criminal." He growled, "I'm a suspect remember." Munakata gave him a cold look.

"Yes, I remember quite well Suoh Mikoto." He said icily, "But you have done nothing to help us in our investigation and have been, excuse my language, nothing but a brat who is giving his parents the silent treatment just because they're doing something to help him!" His eyes narrowed, "You may not see it, but we are trying to catch a killer here and you are being nothing but uncooperative since the beginning. S I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I would prefer you go back into your cell." The two men glared at each other and Andy could feel the tension rising high in the surrounding atmosphere. Isana stepped forward holding up his hands.

"Calm down you two." He said, laughing a bit nervously, "Nothing is going to be gained by squabbling like children. Look," he turned to Munakata, "Why don't you go with Fushimi san quietly. I assure you that once we get this mess cleaned up, we'll release you." Mikoto's eyes flared up for a moment before they became blank.

"Reisi, I want to have a talk with you – ours was interrupted just now." Andy watched as Fushimi rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that made Mikoto's lips twitch but otherwise he followed him out without a scene. Munakata turned to look at them all. Kuro had lead away Eric, after using an online translator to converse with him. The boy had given the FBI agents a seething look before following the other away. One of the officers on duty cleared his throat.

"is it really okay to let that boy go? I mean he's a member of HOMRA – we've been after them for months." Munakata gave him an even look.

"Indeed. But right now, our priority is not some small gang of random thugs but a killer who has so far committed three murders. I'm afraid to say that I'm very afraid there are more to come in the near future – and that can only be prevented if we work with HOMRA for a while and get them to help us out." The officer nodded and stuck his hands in his jeans. Akiyama turned to look at Isana.

"Why don't you give us the phone so that we can examine all the emails sent and received since last night?" He asked gently, swiping his hair out of his eyes. "If we figure out just when the text was sent, we can determine who might have sent it." Isana turned to look at Munakata warily.

"It wasn't you was it?" He asked cautiously, "Just to get a rile out of Suoh-"

"I assure you," Munakata said over the loud voices of protest and indignation his team was making, "I did not do such an underhanded thing. It would be beneath my principles." Andy and Hidaka caught each others eye and looked away immediately. Okay, so maybe the Captain had bent a few rules in his time.

"Okay, well, follow me then. I'll take you to where we keep everyone's stuff." Munakata nodded and followed him to the room where they kept all the things. Andy and Kamo decided to go with him while the rest decided to hang back and well – gossip.

"Is this it?" Munakata picked up the phone and turned I over in his hands. Giving Andy the phone, he smiled.

"Kamo san, please get Enomoto san and Fuse san to examine the contents of this phone." Kamo nodded and hurried away, leaving only Andy behind.

"Sir, we should go back to the others and look through the contents with them." He said. Munakata nodded.

"In a minute Doumyouji san." He said kindly, "Isana san, how many people have access to this place?" Isana scratched his head.

"Ehhh – everyone in the office? And the staff. We don't actually watch this place that intently." Andy wanted to face palm. This was basically the place where all the important evidence could be kept. Munakata sighed.

"Thank you for your help Isana san."

* * *

 **Neko's Diner, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[7:** **45** **PM]**

"I feel like I could sleep for a week though." Hidaka said and everyone nodded. Benzai looked at his watch.

"Hey guys, it's almost time for us to head back. Captain and Awashima san said we should return before eight." Every one nodded and began to get up from their seats. Just as they were about to head out, the news strip flashing across the screen on the small TV behind the counter caught his eye. His mind had only registered the words when all of their phones began to ring. Taking a look at the screen, all of them paled considerably.

"Oh fuck."

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[** **0** **2:** **1** **0 PM]**

"Okay," Fuse declared, his voice crackling with static on the phone due to low reception, "Basically this cell phone has a cleaned history. In other words, someone wiped the history right off so we have no records of anything on it except for the calls it made in the last month which is really useless to be honest." Munakata nodded.

"Thank you Fuse san," he said, running a hand through his hair, "Anything else?" Enomoto's voice took over.

"Nothing of great importance Munakata san." He said earnestly, "But we'll keep looking."

"Excellent Enomoto san. I thank you two for your work."

"Aye aye Captain." Came a chorus before the call was disconnected. Sighing, Munakata turned to face Fushimi who was lounging at the back, watching all of them disinterestedly.

"Fushimi kun," he began, face grim, "Is there anyway to hack into someone else's cell phone?" Fushimi paused momentarily before he nodded.

"Well yes, you can." He said slowly, "But it's not something someone can just do sitting down randomly. You need to be really talented at it - and well, it's also illegal so no one is going to openly tell you about it." Munakata nodded, looking thoughtful. A few minutes of silence later he nodded, as if he had just come to a decision all by himself.

"Alright," he called out, "Someone please bring me Eric." Akiyama frowned.

"Why?" Munakata smiled slyly, his eyes glowing a bit.

"Why Akiyama san, don't you know? To catch an illegal hacker, you need someone from that side of the world."

* * *

" _Wh_ _y_ _should I help you?_ " The blonde was watching them warily, blue eyes going from Awashima to Munakata, then back to Awashima, " _You do know I'm part_ _o_ _f_ _HOMRA right? You cops don't like us._ " Munakata coughed.

" _I assure you Eric, I do not share the same sentiments as the officers of this city. My duty is to si_ _mply_ _catch that killer and leave – I assure you, I will not be bothering you or your friends._ "

" _Unless one of us is the killer._ " Eric stated. Munakata inclined his head in agreement. Sighing Eric pulled harder at the hood covering his head. " _Look, I don't know many hackers. Actually, I know just one. And him through Anna – you know her right? Well, he boyfriend used to work for this guy – Nagare Hisui his name was I think? Yeah, you should contact him._ " Munakata nodded.

" _Thank you for your time Eric._ " He said. The boy looked at him evenly.

" _What do you plan on doing once you catch him? The killer I mean._ " Eric finally asked. Munakata smiled, his eyes staring at him coldly.

" _Why – bring him to justice of course - f_ _or our cause is p_ _ure._ "

* * *

 **Outer district** **, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[** **8:10** **PM]**

"Oh God." Gotou didn't know where to look, what body to take in first. Ambulances surrounded them along with multiple police cars. They had just arrived at the crime scene minutes after hearing the news from Fushimi. A school bus full of high school kids was in front of him.

A school bus full of slaughtered kids.

Somewhere next to him, a man from the City police department turned over and vomited, unable to digest the carnage in front of him.

His eyes finally managed to make sense of the words painted into the sides of the bus.

"Hahaha, who's laughing now." Akiyama whispered, "What kind of sick fuck would do this?"

Children. They had all been children.

No more than 15 to 17 years old.

Somewhere next to him, Andy was fighting hard to keep his tears at bay. Blinking rapidly, he looked at one of the men who had just come back from examining the bodies.

"He numbered them." Fushimi let out a sound filled with disgust, "he fucking – I swear when I get my hands on this asshole..." Gotou didn't reply instead he just closed his eyes, not being able to take in any more of...whatever that was.

"Does Munakata san know?' He asked, his voice small. He heard Fushimi click his tongue.

"I called him before I contacted you guys – he's coming straight over." Kamo, who had still not said a word yet, swallowed thickly.

"He didn't take long to escalate huh."

Gotou shook his head, already imagining the next day's headlines.

"15 – burnt alive."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine** **,** **Shizume** **City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **19th September, Saturday.**

 **[** **0** **7** **:** **00** **PM]**

"So it's just you and Awashima san heading out to Nagare's house tomorrow?" Akiyama asked Munakata, his eyes narrowed. "Sir, that's really dangerous. What if he attacks you?" Munakata smiled.

"He won't Akiyama san, Hisui Nagare is half paralyzed from waist down." Benzai folded his arms. All of them had returned to where they had set up camp – except Fushimi who seemed to be on official Mikoto duty. He didn't seem all too pleased about it – which was a startling contrast to Munakata looking as if Christmas had come early. Clearly, making Fushimi uncomfortable was something this man thrived upon.

"Yeah but his arms are still functioning." He pointed out, "What if he shoots at you?" Munakata sighed and gave them a serious look.

"Do you not trust me to take care of myself?" Munakata questioned, looking a bit forlorn. "I must say, I'm disappointed. Do I really come off as a man who requires protection 24/7?" All of them shook their heads.

"No sir, we just worry about you." Munakata's eyes began to sparkle once again and all of them groaned internally – oh fuck they had been baited.

"I'm glad you all think so much about me. We are all family here." Akiyama wanted to hit himself. Of course they all loved each other – but Munakata was a bit odd.

Okay, not a bit. Very odd.

"I'll be back before 9 PM, most probably." Munakata added, his eyes scanning the boards with all their points noted down. "You all can have a day off tomorrow but return back here by 8 alright?" They all nodded, a bit relieved. It had been ages they had time to themselves. Akiyama could already see a whole day spent with his boyfriend. Though it wouldn't be the case – knowing the rest of the team, who would insist on spending it all together.

In a way, they were all different version's of Munakata.

"Will Fushimi san be on Mikoto watch sir?" Andy asked and the look on Munakata's face said it all really.

Ah poor Fushimi san.

"Right, let's all head to be, I feel like tomorrow is going to be an eventful day." Awashima said, smiling and the rest of them left the room chattering incessantly.

* * *

 **Outer district** **, Shizume City, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[** **9:00** **PM]**

"What happened here?" The urgency in Munakata's tone was evident as he got out of the car, Awashima following his suit. The two of them strode forward towards them. "How many victims?"

"15 sir." Fushimi said, his voice icy, "I don't know who or what even did this but they left something behind." Munkata raised his eyebrow, his facial expressions somber. He looked over to where Fushimi was pointing and made a small sound of surprise.

"So that's it."

There, stuck on a pole high above the bus, was the flag of HOMRA.

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume city** **, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20** **th** **September, Sunday.**

 **[10:00 AM]**

"Okay we're all set, we'll be leaving then. Don't get into trouble." Munakata said, looking at his team. Fushimi rolled his eyes. All of them stood outside the main entrance, Awashima bringing up a car for her and Munakata to go to Shibuya where Nagare's house was located – somewhere.

They were going to have to ask around a bit - apparently the man worked underground.

"Yes dad." Fushimi muttered sarcastically, "We won't burn down the house while you and mom are away." Munakata let out a small laugh, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes I trust you not to do anything reckless while I'm away." Fushimi's face literally screamed a thousand curse words but somehow the man managed to hold them in.

"Whatever, just don't come back empty handed." He finally dead panned, his eyes narrowed. Munakata smiled.

"Wouldn't even dream of it."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20th September, Sunday.**

 **[10:00 P** **M]**

"He killed 15 kids..." The words sounded bitter in his mouth. For the first time in his life, Munakata could not grasp the situation he was presented with. His mind could not comprehend how someone could simply do such cruel things. Mikoto, who had been allowed out on basis of no evidence in holding him for more than 24 hours, took a long drag of his cigarette. He watched as all the other members worked diligently, trying to find some connection to all the deaths except there was none.

They were all ignoring his presence though but he figured Fushimi probably told them to.

"Munakata – don't let him get inside your head." He finally managed to mumble out, "That bastard just wants you to break and quit." Munakata looked up at him, and Mikoto realized he did not like the look of pure helplessness that had come over the other's face.

"Fifteen Suoh – fifteen." He whispered, "He just..." Mikoto shook his head.

"What school were the kids from?" He finally asked. Munakata seemed beyond the point of caring that he should not be sharing this information with an outsider.

"Ashinaka High school." Mikoto's eyebrows furrowed.

Ashinaka?

Wait.

"Sir! I just remembered! Wasn't Kukuri Yukizome from Ashinaka High school too?"

There was something about that name...

"Oi -" he said finally, as he remembered what was so important. "Wasn't Ann's roommate's boyfriend a teacher there?"

* * *

 **Nagare's** **apartment** **,** **Shi** **buya** **, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20** **th** **September, Sunday.**

 **[** **05** **:00** **P** **M]**

"Munakata san, I assure you no one has approached me to dig into Suoh Mikoto's private cell phone." Nagare said, his voice flat. It had taken them more than two hours to find the man. A glance around his apartment made Awashima cringe as much as it had when she first entered – the room was filthy. There was an overflowing hamper of dirty clothing lying in the corner and boxes of take out food scattered everywhere.

There was also a bird - a green parrot to be exact – sitting on Nagare's shoulder, eating his hair but neither Munakata nor Awashima chose to comment on it. They had been in the house for less than an hour and already Awashima couldn't wait to leave the place. The man in front of them stared at them blankly, face unhealthily pale and dark circle underneath his eyes.

"Well, if you find anything useful, do tell us." Munakata said, getting up, "It would help us a great deal and Sakuna Gojou will be happier that Totsuka san's killer is finally caught." Nagare's eyes widened a fraction before resuming their half dead state.

"I see. Then it is indeed unfortunate that I could not be of any assistance to you Munakata san." Nagare said, "Sakuna is a very close friend of mine. I do not like seeing him hurt." Munakata nodded.

"Thank you for your time Hisui Nagare." He said, nodding his head before making his way out. Nagare shook his head.

"Any time Munakata Reisi."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume city** **, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **20** **th** **September, Sunday.**

 **[10:00 AM]**

Munakata's eyes widened. Of course. Adolf K. Weissman.

He had been totally overlooked in all of this mess.

His brain was processing information even as he ordered the man to be brought in for questioning, his team running out, heading out towards the man's house.

Adolf would be trusted be Kukuri.

He'd have access to all the kids.

He was smart enough to maybe hack into someone else's phone – he was practically a scientist.

Miyabi would trust him.

Totsuka would know him as well.

Oh God, how had he let such a simple observation slip his notice? It was all falling into place now. Everything, except the motives and Munakata had no doubt that Fushimi Saruhiko would have him screaming his reasons out loud in no time at all. He trusted Fushimi inexplicably when it came to obtaining information.

Not that he'd ever use physical violence.

"Munakata."

Mikoto finally muttered, his golden eyes focused on the other man. Munakata gave him a blank stare.

"I'm going to destroy that man." He finally whispered, "I'm going to destroy him. Fifteen students. He killed fifteen of his own student. That's unforgivable." Munakata was shaking. He got up from where he was sitting and stared at the pictures of the burnt corpses lined on the board. "So many – none of them will ever have a future. Their families -" For the first time in a long while, Munakata felt a tear run down his face. "Why would anyone do this." Mikoto didn't answer – he didn't have one.

Munakata drew himself upright.

"Alright, lets head out to the police station."

* * *

O-O" Well then. That didn't go where I wanted it to go. What the hell, how did I manage to make a mess of my own fic?


	5. Happy Birthday

Well, I clearly didn't make it in time. In my timezone at least. It's still 30th somewhere including on AO3. But I tried. I really did. It was just a bit difficult for me to write all of this because my laptop is completely broken - like it randomly stops connecting to the charger until I shut it down and restart it. (ಥ﹏ಥ) So it keeps shutting down. Forgive me.

"OTL Actually this has been happening all week long. Which is why all my updates are so close to the limit.

(¬ ¬ )" I wonder if everyone will be happy with this chapter. I mean it's...

Well I'll let you decide that.

* * *

 **"Happy Birthday"**

 _"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death - that is heroism."_

 **\- Robert Green Ingersoll** **.**

 **P** **olice Station, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **21st September, Monday.**

 **[11:00 AM]**

"Where were you on the day Miyabi Ameno was kidnapped Weismann?" Fushimi asked, azure eyes staring at the addressed party intently from across the narrow table that separated them. The indignant man in front of him glared right back. They were back inside the interrogation room, had been there for 6 hours already, the dim lighting making Fushimi look even more sinister than usual. Adolf was frowning.

"I'm telling you," he said angrily, "I was in my office looking over some term papers my students had submitted to me." Andy who was sitting next to Fushimi gave him a sympathetic look.

"Look Weismann san," he began politely, "I trust you when you say you didn't do it - I really do. But Fushimi san here is very cynical about everything. He really would like it if you could just tell us if there was ever a moment someone else saw you at that time - anyone who could confirm you had been in the office from three-thirty to say five-ish?" Adolf gave him a cold calculating glare.

"Don't try to pretend you're helping me." he snapped back finally, "I can tell when someone is playing good cop bad cop. I'm a scientist, not an idiot." Fushimi who had been watching him silently smirked, watching Adolf as a cat would watch a mouse – amused.

"Well if you're so smart then you must have guessed that we've already sent some men over to your office and apartment with search warrants to rip open all of your secrets hmm?" Adolf's pale eyes widened.

"That's -"

Riiiiiiing.

All of them looked at Fushimi's cell phone which had been up till now, sitting quite innocently and silently on the table in front of them. The screen was lit up, a very un-Fushimi like jingle ringing out.

Clicking his tongue, Fushimi picked it up. "Yeah?"

"Fushimi san, we found the murder weapon." Hidaka's breathless voice said from the other end, "It was in his office - a scalpel. There's still some blood on it so we're getting it to the forensics for a match." A twisted smile crossed Fushimi's lips. Without bothering to say goodbye, he cut the call and looked at Adolf with predatory eyes once more.

"Well, guess what scientist san," he all but crooned in the most mocking way he could imagine, "We just found a scalpel in your room. And lo behold! There was blood on it as well." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "How much money are you willing to bet that it's not from the victims?" The look on Adolf's face was priceless. If the situation had not involved about more than a dozen dead kids, Fushimi would have laughed. Next to him, Andy dropped his smile and a hard look came across his features.

"Adolf K. Weismann," Fushimi said, getting up, "This interview is done. I would suggest you call up your lawyers." Andy followed his suit and got up as well, throwing Adolf a disgusted look. With a final nod at each other, the two left the room, leaving the man sitting there in shock after them.

* * *

 **Police Station** **, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **22nd** **September, Tuesday.**

 **[06:00 AM]**

"It's a match." Akiyama declared, walking into the office, carrying the report he had just picked up from the lab. The blood on the scalpel matched Kukuri's DNA. It is the murder weapon." Munakata nodded, his eyes hardening. Walking into the interrogation room where they had been holding the man in question, he gave him the most foulest look he could manage.

"The DNA was a match." he said coldly, "If I could have my way, I would strike you down this instant. But unfortunately for me, I can not commit such an act - because that would be taking the law into my own hands. Even right now, we are technically protecting you from HOMRA, who is undoubtedly after your head since you murdered one of their founding members." Adolf gave him a blank stare, eyes reflecting his hopelessness.

"You're not going to believe me when I say I didn't do it, are you?" he muttered quietly, "You won't believe me - even though - even though I loved Miyabi so much." Tears filled his eyes. "I'm innocent. I would never - never in a billion years kill her. I didn't kill her." Munakata scoffed.

"Interesting fable Weismann." he said, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "But sadly, I am not interested in your best lie. You're not still trying to play the innocent card are you? You're not as smart as your reputation makes you out to be." Weismann looked at him coolly.

"Isn't there a machine that can't detect when a person is lying?" he asked quietly, eyes dejected, "Anyway to tell you...I'm not lying?" Munakata gave him an even stare.

"There is a polygraph, that is indeed correct." he said, eyes focused on him, "It's a machine designed that detects and records changes in a person's physiological characteristics - things that fluctuate when a person is under stress - or is lying." Adolf's eyes widened, and Munakata hated to think that there was something akin to hope in them.

"So - so I might be able to prove to you I'm not the killer?" he whispered. Munakata nodded, folding his arms.

"But that's only if you pass Weismann, that's only if you pass."

* * *

 **Police Station, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **25th** **September,** **Friday** **.**

 **[10:00 AM]**

"So we're going to plug you to this machine," Kamo explained, showing Adolf the setup, "And we're going to ask you a few questions. Reply honestly and you'll pass. You lie, we'll know." Isana glared at Adolf seething, his eyes lit up.

"I'll be the one asking questions." the officer said, mouth twisted into a scowl. Pausing after a minute, he added, "Along with Kuro." Kamo nodded.

"We'll be watching his body language." Andy added under his breath, "Anything to see if he's lying." Kamo nodded at the redhead and they walked out only to stand behind the glass, looking in. Adolf seemed pretty relaxed though, his face determined. Not at all the face of a man who was going to be interrogated in a few minutes. Kamo wondered what kind of tricks he would have up his sleeves. Would he try to trick his way out?

"Are you ready?" Isana asked, "Shall we begin?" Adolf nodded. Isana nodded at Kuro who switched on the device. "Alright, we'll being with the tester. You have to lie for this though. So here we go, what's your name." Adolf paused, looking thoughtful.

"Miyabi Ameno." He said softly, only to have the reading indicate a lie. Kuro nodded at all of them all, flashing them a thumbs up. All systems were running smoothly then - the machine was fully operational and Adolf's readings were clear.

"We're all set to go." He declared. Munakata nodded from where he was standing in the room, his hands clasped behind his back, eyes drilling holes into the back of Adolf's head.

"Ask him the questions then." Isana nodded before he faced the scientist in front of him, "Okay Weismann, did you or did you not kill your girlfriend?" Ah – so Isana planned on taking a direct head strong approach to the investigation then. Kamo was not surprised. Adolf looked at the other albino man in the eye.

"I did not."

The machine did not respond.

Kamo's eyes widened. Somewhere behind him, Fushimi swore loudly.

"Did you set that bus on fire?" Isana asked, his face showing clear disbelief. Adolf shook his head.

"I did not."

No response.

"What the fuck?" Andy whispered, "What's going on here. Why is nothing happening?" Kuro shot them an incredulous look before he faced Adolf. Kamo could feel his panic even from outside of the room.

"Did you hide that knife in your office?"

"I did not."

Nothing.

Munakata was trembling. Adolf stared ahead unblinkingly, mouth set in a tight line.

"I told you." He finally said, his voice raw with emotion, "I would never kill my girlfriend. I loved her very very much."

No. Fucking. Response.

Fushimi stomped out of the room, seeming to want to get away from it all. Kamo couldn't blame him. Their one good suspect and it was a complete and utter fail. The way Adolf was looking at Isana and Kuro was that of utter loathing as well. Isana was clearly gritting his teeth.

"Did you burn the station?" Isana demanded, "Why are you counting down the kills? Tatara – did you kill Totsuka Tatara?" Adolf stared at him evenly, eyes hardening. There was a long pause as the sound of Isana's harsh breathing filled the room. Adolf finally closed his eyes, breaking their contact with the man in front of him.

"I. did. Not."

The machine remained silent, just like all their thoughts. What were they going to do now?

* * *

 **Police Station** **, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **26th** **September,** **Saturday** **.**

 **[** **01** **:00 PM]**

"Well that was a waste of time." Akiyama said bitterly, as Adolf was leaving the building, "God, it's killing me to see him walk away." Munakata was sitting quietly in his chair, eyes focused on the puzzle before him. The man had pulled it out the second Isana had come to them and said they needed to release Adolf on grounds of the test. His lawyer, Miwa Ichigen, had shown up and had demanded him to be released and with the concrete evidence of the test in front of them, they had no choice but to let the man go.

"I just want to leave and go home already." Fushimi muttered, looking at the papers in his hands, "I miss Misaki – don't tell him I said that." Hidaka chuckled but it sounded very weak.

"This has got to be the worst case we have ever worked on." Benzai said. Munakata refused to say anything, amethyst eyes focused on his puzzle.

"We need a break." Andy finally said. "Lets -" His words were cut off as Akiyama's cellphone started blowing up. Tilting his head, he looked at the unknown caller ID and picked up hesitantly.

"Hello?"

"Akiyama san?" Came a soft voice from the other end which h immediately identified as Anna's, "This is Anna – you gave me your number in case of emergencies. This isn't an emergency but a parcel just arrived for you all. Since we're in the hotel under your name, they're asking us to receive it. Shall we?" Akiyama sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No, we'll be right there, tell the man to wait."

"There is no man, it's just two very large boxes left at the main desk." There was a slight pause. "It's foreboding Akiyama san, please hurry here before Sakuna decides to open it. I do not get a good aura from these boxes." Something inside Akiyama went cold. His mind was processing a million thoughts.

No.

Two boxes.

"Guys." He managed to croak out, legs shaking a bit, "We need to get to the hotel. I think – I think he made his final move."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **26th September, Saturday.**

 **[01:40 PM]**

"Anna step away from that box." Fushimi ordered as soon as they were inside. Looking at the manager who sat the reception desk, he all but snapped at him to clear the room of all people and lead them to one of the conference rooms. "But do not for fuck's sake let them go – someone might have seen something." People all around them were talking in hushed whispers. Munakata gently approached one of the large crates. Sakuna who had been standing away from the scene immediately came forward, looking interested. Akiyama reached out to hold him back just as Munakata pried open a crate.

A beat.

The scream of terror and anguish was of course, a natural response.

But not when it came from the man being held back by Akiyama.

It wasn't normal to scream and cry that much when one saw a corpse. And not even a rotting one. A perfectly new body – lying in a casket lined with roses, holding what seemed to be a sword.

But Sakuna was screaming.

It took a minute for Akiyama to understand the words.

"YUKARI - OH GOD LET ME GO - YUKARI – LET ME GO YOU FUCKING BASTARD THAT'S MY BROTHER - YUKARI YOU ASSHOLE GET UP! GET UP!"

Tears ran down the young man's face, his body moving against Akiyama's hysterically, trying to get to the purple haired corpse lying there – just a few meters ahead.

"YUKARI I SWEAR TO GOD IF THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR SICK JOKES -" Akiyama turned to face Andy and Kamo who were standing there, looking at the body in shock.

"Help." Was all he could managed before the man broke free rushing towards the purple haired man lying in what seemed a peaceful sleep had it not been for a large stain of red all over his front. Sakuna collapsed onto his knees shaking.

"Yukari...why...who." His eyes shifted to Fushimi and Akiyama could, even from such a distance, sense something inside him snapping. "You." He got to his feet shakily, eyes ablaze. "this is all your fault." Accusing looks were thrown around at all of them, lips trembling, arms wrapped around himself. "If only you all could do your fucking job YUKARI WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!" Anna, who had been horrified, staring at the body, unmoving - unblinking, snapped out of her broken stupor and rushed towards her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him. Immediately, the man collapsed into her hold sobbing, both of them crouched on the floor now.

"He's gone. Oh God, he's really gone." Anna didn't reply but gently held him until his breathing became more even and he fell into a state of unconsciousness. Anna's ruby eyes looked up and all of them could see tears gathering in them.

"Please – please stop them." She whispered, "Please don't let them hurt anyone anymore. Please."

* * *

 **Hotel Divine, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **30th September, Wednesday.**

 **[10:00 PM]**

"I can't believe it's been four whole days and no one has claimed this second body. Its like this man never existed." Andy said, his eyes wide, "He won't even show up on Enomoto and Fuse's search!" A formal investigation had revealed that the victims had been given a quick death - there had been no signs of an over kill.

"It's that split personality all over again." Akiyama said out loud. Fushimi, who had been busy writing something down looked up and nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed, "The unsub has two sides – one if filled with rage and pointless anger while the other is filled with remorse about his actions." He paused and twirled his pen in the air absentmindedly. "It's strange but not unheard of." Everyone in the room nodded. Mikoto, who was lounging in the room raised his eyebrow.

"So what?" He asked, "You givin' up?" Fushimi sent him an irritable look, clearly still not completely sure what he was even doing there. It was like everyone has accepted Mikoto's presence like a fucking house plant. He was just there and everyone was ignoring him like a large elephant in the room.

"It's the captain's birthday tomorrow though." Andy said cheerfully, "We should celebrate a bit. Lighten his mood." Awashima who was standing within hands reach whacked him on the head.

"Don't speak such nonsense Andy." She admonished him, "This is no time to think of such festivities." Hidaka who was sitting there next to them looked up thoughtfully.

"You know a small celebration wouldn't be a bad idea." He finally said, "We've been working our asses off for about three months now with back to back cases – I say we take a night off." Awashima bit her lower lip and Fushimi could tell she was about to cave. She always had a way of worrying her lips when ever she was about to give into someone's – mostly Andy's - stupid demands.

"Alright," she finally agreed, "We'll arrange a party for Captain. We can go to somewhere like the Shizume central park or something." Everyone around them immediately sprang back to life, chattering incessantly. Fushimi simply got to his feet and walked off. He had better things to do than play family to that man.

"Fushimi, you're coming right?" Awashima asked, her baby blue eyes confused and unsure. Fushimi clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He had better things to do than play family to that man.

Things that would actually help.

But they could wait.

* * *

 **Shizume Central Park, Shizume city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **1** **st** **October, Thursday.**

 **05** **:00** **P** **M]**

"Happy Birthday Captain!" All of them san out, smiling widely. Munakata's eyes widened dramatically. The superior officer had been dragged out by his very moody subordinate and he guessed he should have guessed only at that point that something was amiss.

Why would Fushimi Saruhiko willingly drag him out anywhere?

His eyes sparkled as he smiled around at all of his subordinates.

"Oya? What a nice surprise." He said sincerely. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mikoto lounging about and felt his smile turn into a smirk. Oh, so Fushimi had invited him along too. Or rather, it must have been Awashima out of courtesy. Turning to face him, he raised an eyebrow.

"fancy seeing you here Suoh Mikoto." He said, mouth slanted in an amused grin, "I didn't think you cared enough to show up to my birthday party." Suoh snorted.

"Nah I'm here for the free cake." He said, smirking back at him. Something inside Munakata's chest thudded painfully. Oh God, when he looked at him like that, Munakata couldn't help but remember that one time in the cell and he could feel his face heating up.

"Captain, control your thoughts, you're going to make all of us blush." Fushimi muttered to him under his breath, passing him by. Seemed liked the man was finally enjoying himself by teasing Munakata thoroughly – the shoe was on the other foot and Munakata couldn't wait to bring up the words "Yata Misaki kun" in a conversation again just to regain his throne.

"Oh look guys, there's something over there!" Everyone turned to look at where Hidaka was pointing and sure enough there sat a colourfully decorated box not too far off. Fushimi frowned.

"That wasn't there when we first came here was it?" The others shook their head.

The park was basically completely empty. No one was daring to go out with a serial killer on the lose. It hurt Munakata to see a place which should have been lively with children and the sounds of their laughter resemble nothing more than a barren land in the middle of nowhere.

"I'll go check it out." Akiyama said cautiously, "You all stay here." Hidaka rolled his eyes and began to follow his boy friend anyways. Munakata watched as they both approached the box and pick it up. Hidaka grabbed the card and read it and all of them watched as their expressions turned wary. Looking up, they both began to trudge their way back to them slowly.

* * *

Akiyama stared at the box in his hands. Truth be told, it could have been carrying anything. A severed head of another victim, more threats – more pain. The message scrawled in neat cursive lettering had been short.

"Happy Birthday, Captain Munakata. Have a blast on your birthday. - Colorless"

Something tugged at Akiyama's conscious.

An idea. A thought.

It was barely there.

 _"He's counting down the kills isn't he?"_

Countdown. Countdown to...what?

 _Happy birthday, Captain_ _Munakata_ _. Have_ _a_ _blast on your birthday._

Yukari and that last body.

 _Countdown._

 _2...1..._

An annoying tick was overwhelming his brain, hurting his mind.

They were nearly back to where the others were. Akiyama's feet stopped moving forward, freezing him on the spot.

Countdown.

Have a blast.

A blast?

What a peculiar message. Or rather – what a normal one.

Have a blast on you birthday – friends spoke to each other like this. Greetings exchanged during birthdays – or any other occasion really. But never had a message left Akiyama feel colder.

Friends.

But not Colorless.

He spoke in in circles – ryhmes.

 _5...4...3...2...1...?_

 _Zero?_

A step back. Hidaka had moved forward, not realizing he had halted in his steps, breathing becoming laboured as the annoying tick in his head grew louder.

Distance between them increasing – good.

But why good?

Another step back. Build a gap – separate.

 _Countdown. Blast. Countdown. Blast._

The words swam inside his mind, making him dizzy. Spinning – his entire world was spinning. All the while coming to a gradual halt at the same time. His head was spinning - alarm bells ringing in his head.

Hidaka had stopped to look back at him. His face morphed from that of mild concern to genuine shock and worry.

 _What kind of face am I making_ , Akiyama wondered, as he took another involuntary step back, _Don't look at me like that Hidaka, I'm fine._ _Don't look that worried – it's going to be alright._

Except that it wasn't and wasn't that all a huge joke.

Nothing was fine.

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._

He was moving away now, his feet carrying him away from the other, his hands holding onto the wrapped object tightly. Holding on.

Someone was yelling for him. Yelling out to him. Who was it. What were they saying?

 _Tick, Tick. Tick_.

Akiyama's feet picked up the pace, his long legs taking him further and further. Were they following? He didn't want to look, didn't want to see - afraid that if he did, he'd lose his nerve.

The thought of that one smile made his feet move forward. Away – far way from them – from _him._

 _They should have seen this coming – theirs was not a path_

Why was it raining all of a sudden? The skies had been clear when they came – they still were. But his face was wet.

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._

Daring to look behind him, he saw that Hidaka was following him. Stupid man. Stupid stupid stupid man.

Always chasing.

Stupid idiot.

How many years had it been?

4? 5?

Why couldn't he remember?

It seemed like an eternity somehow.

 _"You are a kind and brave man._ _It will be your undoing."_

 _Wrong Anna_ _san_ _, I am very selfish and I'm a coward_.

He wanted him to live. He want him to live even if he left him behind.

He didn't want to lose him either.

This – this was far enough right?

He didn't want to be further – maybe get one last look at those chocolate eyes that somehow made everything seem better. It would make this better too.

They would.

Panicked Brown eyes met olive green.

 _I'm sorry. I'm so_ _sor_ _-_

The package in his hands exploded.

* * *

I'm sorry?

LMAO, no I'm not - this is one death I've been waiting to write since forever. Like the only pre-planned scene. It doesn't bother me.

I lie - it hurts me a lot.


	6. Internal Conlict

Well technically the week ended a long time ago (we've entered a new year woohoo!) but this was still written for MikoRei week so I'm gonna stick to the prompts. I mean - if it's there, why not.

I'm sorry for the really long time I took to update but I had exams and I had already put myself in enough jeopardy writing for MikoRei week. Like I've been writing a paragraph a day - so yeah.

I came a long way in this story - never actually intended to get so involve into it lmao.

*-* okay enough rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 **"Internal conflict"**

 _"The more externally chaotic the world becomes, the more we need sound internal logic, especially when it comes to our emotions."_

 **\- Chip Conley.**

 **Shizume** **Central Park,** **Shizume** **city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **1st October, Thursday.**

 **[06:00 PM]**

Hidaka sat up, a sharp stinging pain his head making him wince, eyes shutting tightly, blocking out the light from entering. tentatively, he cracked his eyes to look around but immediately shut them again, his head spinning, making him nauseous. Bile rose in the back of his throat but he swallowed it down, fighting to keep himself from throwing up. The sharp trill of noise against his ear drums was making his head pound. Finally able to force his eyes open, he stared around wildly, the world swimming in and out of focus, the colors all blending in together, not making any sense.

 _What happened...?_

Screaming. Someone was screaming but he couldn't make out the words due to the static noises creating a whirlwind inside of his head.

Oh God, what was that ringing noise - couldn't someone stop it?

 _Right. We were at Captain's birthday party..._

Crying.

Noise.

Slapping his hands over his ears, he let out a yell of frustration, trying to mute the shrill ringing in his ears but the sound only intensified.

Party...

 _Have a blast._

Panic swelled inside his entire being, a cold feeling of dread creeping in. Scrabbling to gather himself, he tried to stand up only to realize he couldn't feel his legs. Desperation began to claw it's way into his being and his heart began to beat erratically inside his chest. Forcing himself to his feet, he ran a hand over his face, pulling it back sharply to stare at the liquid coating his hand dumbly.

Blood...?

A blast.

There had been a bomb.

 _And Akiyama..._

The rest of the words trailed off his head as the bile finally found it's way past his mouth and he threw up the contents of his stomach on the ground. The world finally came back into sharp focus and he could only make out Andy running towards him before his feet gave out from beneath him and his world faded into black once more.

* * *

Munakata staggered to his feet, having been blasted back from where he had been standing. Looking around he saw the rest of his team scattered about and Fushimi already on his feet shouting out orders. Lying a few meters away from him was Hidaka and...

 _No!_

Horror began to creep into his body as he suddenly realized what had happened.

Akiyama – he wasn't -

"Fushimi kun! Can you see Akiyama san anywhere!" Hardened blue eyes found his and he felt something icy grip his heart and squeeze it. The realization that he had just lost a member of his squad came crashing down on him and he felt his breath get caught in his throat. Somewhere next to him, Mikoto got up on his feet groaning, and Munakata barely registered what he was saying to him.

Akiyama Himori was dead.

In a blast that was probably meant for _him_.

* * *

"Get the injured to the ambulances – yes that includes you Andy, don't argue with me!" Fushimi barked out his orders and watched Hidaka being put on a stretcher, being wheeled to the back of an ambulance. Everyone else was in various states of confusion and Fushimi prayed that they'd at least manage to get back to the hospital in one piece.

In one piece...

His eyes were involuntarily drawn to the area where the bomb had gone off and he didn't have to stress all that much to know what had happened to Akiyama. Gritting his teeth together, he swept one last look over the crime scene where multiple patrol officers had pulled up along with the forensic teams and then dragged himself to the nearest medic van to get checked up where he ran into Benzai.

"Himori – is he..." Fushimi felt something twist painfully in his gut as he shook his head, and watched as all the remaining color drained for the other's face, eyes filling with tears. Quickly patting him on the back a bit awkwardly, he briskly walked off in the direction where his own van was parked.

A bomb. They had planted a bomb.

Finally all the energy seemed to be drained out of him as he all but collapsed against the hood of his car and he numbly reached into his pocket for his keys, stumbling and faltering as he worked to unlock his door. Sliding behind the steering wheel, he let his head fall back and let out a huge breath, forcing his mind to remain clear.

 _"Ah you must be Fushimi_ _kun_ _! Nice to meet you and welcome to the force!"_

Fuck this, he was going to kill this guy.

* * *

 **Shizume** **C** **ity** **Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **2nd October, Friday.**

 **[03:18 PM]**

"Hidaka's still unconscious you guys." Andy whispered, not daring to raise his voice fearing it would shatter whatever semblance of self-control most of them had managed to gather within themselves.

"He'll be fine...right?" Gotou's words seemed as unsure as the rest of them felt and even now, the thought of having lost one of their comrades sat heavily on their minds.

"You know Hidaka!" Kamo said, trying to be optimistic, "He's persistent! He'll bounce back in no time!" No one said a word on how he would deal with what had happened, each knowing it wasn't going to be good. After all, Hidaka had lost someone precious to him in the past in a stakeout gone wrong. Hidaka had never quite forgiven himself for not being able to help his friend in time and this new blow would only break him down even more.

"Has anyone called Fuse and Eno?" Andy asked weakly, his head resting back against the wall as he slid down, his feet finally too tired to support him. Kamo nodded.

"Yes, I think Fushimi san took care of it."

"And Benzai san…?" the rest of Andy's words were mumbled out, not daring to look any of them in the eye. Kamo swallowed thickly before he replied.

"He hasn't left the hotel room since yesterday." Silence once again settled heavily amongst them as each tried to cope with their own feelings of having lost one of their closest friend.

"If Akiyama san was here, he'd probably get so angry at us for sitting here like this." Everyone turned to look at Gotou who was staring at his hands, a small painful smile on his face. "He'd probably go and wake Hidaka up by just threatening him."

"And he'd make us all coffee!" Andy contributed, chuckling humorlessly, "Yeah – he'd do that."

Kamo watched as the younger two exchanged their stories with each other, his chest tightening a bit, fearing for what lay ahead of them. Just as he was about to open his mouth and tell the two to take care of themselves, his cellphone started to ring. Startled, he looked at it and saw a very familiar name flash across the screen. Connecting the call, he put it on speaker.

"Fushimi san -"

"Just go to the forensics' lab, I have a headache."

The call was cut.

* * *

 **Forensics Laboratory,** **Shizume** **City,** **Tokyo, Japan.**

 **2nd October, Friday.**

 **[03** **:** **49** **PM]**

Kamo pulled into the reserved parking space and got out of the car. On the other side, he saw Andy step out as well, looking grim and pale, even behind the large pair of sunglasses he was using to shield his eyes from the afternoon glare of the sun. For a brief moment, he wondered if the other man had even slept at all and for a moment he almost scolded him for not taking care of himself but remembering his own sleepless night and he concluded that he really had no right to say anything to the other.

Andy did not hold in any such reservations.

"You look half dead." The blank statement made him wince and Andy's eyes widened at his own statements before he cursed, lowering his eyes and muttering out a small apology.

The wounds were fresh and sometimes Kamo wondered if they would ever stop bleeding.

"What did Douhan san need us for?" Andy finally asked, looking up at the building in front of them. Kamo shrugged, letting the other know that he himself did not have any clue what the blonde doctor had wanted to tell them. The urgent phone calls had demanded Munakata to send his men to the lab immediately since she had "found something they'd really like to know about in the last two victims."

Which was really a sick twisted joke because Akiyama was the last victim and there wasn't much to find...

Going through the front entrance, they flashed their badges and were ushered inside towards where Hirasaka Douhan was standing, awaiting their arrival.

"Morning," she greeted, tilting her head low, blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail, green eyes somber."I know calling you both here on such short notice especially after what just recently took place must have been hard on you but I need to tell you something - I'm positive it will be very important to your case." Kamo nodded and the two followed her into the place where the two bodies were lying on a smooth cold marble to, the florescent lights above glaring down on them.

"Okay, so what did you want to tell us?" Andy asked, shifting. He had never been good with dead bodies.

"First of all, look at both victims and tell me what you see." Kamo turned his attention to the corpses, trying to note what the woman was telling them.

"Ligature marks are absent and no body lacerations present on either victims." He said, eyes furrowing, "No defensive wounds or any to indicate there had been a struggle – both shot point blank on the back of their head." Douhan nodded.

"Yes exactly except only Mishakuji Yukari died due to the gunshot."

"What?"

Douhan clicked her tongue and handed them a file that had been sitting on the table. "The blood reports showed me something odd so I did a bit of digging and came up with this." Kamo and Andy took the report and one look over it had Andy whistling. Kamo raised his eyebrow.

"Drug overdose?"

"The other victim had high levels of neurotoxins in his blood stream - a kind that doesn't show up on your normal blood screening test and that had been the root cause of his death. Oddly enough, Mishakuji had the same amount of the same substance in his bloodstream but he did not seem to be affected by it. Which would explain why he was shot in the head."

"So shooting the other guy had only been a forensic counter measure so we'd think it was what killed them both." Andy muttered. "But he should have known the blood report would have shown something off." Douhan shook her head.

"Not necessarily. The only reason I dug deeper was because of this tiny part of some strange residual substance that had been left in Mishakuji's bloodstream. After isolating it, I found something interesting. Tell me, have you two heard about the Slates?" Both of them shook their heads. "It's a local drug that circulates around here. Taken in small quantities, it gives the user a sense of power and importance except it's highly lethal."

"Okay…what does that have to do with this case?" Andy asked, cocking his head. "I'm going to assume these two were users then." Douhan shook her head.

"Any user, even under influence, knows not to use too much of it. Usually, you use like a 2 to 3% concentrated substance but both of these were found with 100% concentrated Slates in their systems. And the fact that Mishakuji survived that is a wonder." Kamo nodded and stared at the purple haired body.

"Anything else?" Andy prodded, looking around. Douhan smiled wryly.

"Well yes," she muttered, "Come here." The two of them exchanged looks and walked around to where she was. Pulling up another file, she showed it to them. "After discovering the Slates in these two, I looked into the other victims. Or at least the most recent ones."

"The school kids." Kamo said. Douhan nodded even though he hadn't posed it as a question.

"Yes the school kids. I found something interesting. All of them had some amount of Slates in them as well. Given that it's been so long and most of it has probably been destroyed in the fire, I only found traces but the fact remains that each one of those kids had the drug present inside them."

"Fuck." Andy was ever the eloquent speaker.

"Yes." Douhan pushed her glasses up her nose, "And I can bet that all of the earlier victims had the same drug inside them." She then handed them both some files. "Hers's a copy of some information I gathered about the Slates over the years, you'd probably like to read through it since you're new to the drug and all." Kamo and Andy thanked the woman and proceeded to make their way out of the building.

"What do you make of this? Any idea of what it means?" Andy asked, walking towards their vehicle. Kamo shrugged.

"Right now? I don't have no idea." Pulling the car out of the parking lot, he began to drive towards the hotel. "We're going to need to do some more research on this Slates." Andy hummed in agreement and the two covered the rest of the ride in silence.

* * *

 **Hotel Divine,** **Shizume** **city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **5th October, Monday.**

 **[04:30** **P** **M]**

"How is he?" Even though there was rough static present in the phone call, all of them heard the deep rooted misery in the man's voice. Everyone around the conference room stayed silent, and thus answering Fuse's question. Akiyama's funeral had been held only hours ago, while Hidaka had still been unconscious - the brunette had yet to show any signs of waking up and it had begun to worry the doctors quite a bit - not to mention putting the rest of them in a state of panic.

Losing two members of the teams in just one go like that had been a huge hit to them.

 _Akiyama..._

A huge hit to him.

Benzai swallowed hard, forcing down his feelings as he was suddenly struck by the fact once more that his best friend was just gone. He wouldn't be returning. No more would there be any one he could relax under the kotatsu with after a long hard day's work, no one he could share everything with, no one to pull small pranks on the rest of the task force with.

Akiyama Himori was dead and there was nothing Benzai could about it except catch the one who did this and even though he knew it was wrong to get personal feeling involved in a case, he wanted nothing more than put a bullet in the man's head.

Fushimi shifted in his place, dull steely eyes staring blankly ahead, seemingly consumed in his own thoughts.

Benzai watched him intently, wondering what the other man was thinking. Ever since their talk with Douhan, Fushimi had been acting a bit strange, as if he wanted to tell them something but was holding himself back. Benzai watched how his jaw muscles twitched as if he was clenching his teeth tightly, and once or twice he had seen a look or pure anger cross his feature but it had been fleeting so Benzai had doubted whether he had seen it at all.

"Fushimi kun, you've been looking troubled for quite some time now."

Ah, it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed then.

Fushimi turned his head to meet his superior's eyes coolly, "Its a troubling time for all of us." That was the honest truth but none of them missed how Fushimi's body had stiffened for the slightest of moments and how his stance had changed to a defensive position - it was a lie. It was a troubling and grievous moment for all of them but it was not what was preoccupying their youngest member's mind. Munakata seemed to not push it further though but Benzai could tell he was not letting the matter rest as the man's eyes kept darting back to the sullen wiry man standing in the corner of the room, doing his level best to avoid eye contact with all of them.

Not everyone else was that forgiving it seemed.

"Fushimi san seems to have quite a lot on his mind." Kamo nodded towards the younger man who only scowled in response, his hands buried deep into his jacket, silently glaring at the wall opposite to him.

A minute passed.

"It's the drug." Fushimi finally admitted, his eyes closing, "The Slate? It's just - it's just I need some more information on it."

"I can help with that." All eyes snapped to the redhead who had seemingly just walked in the room - or he could have been there from the start - Benzai didn't think too much about it. Suoh Mikoto was always there these days so his presence didn't stand out too much anymore as it used to when he had first arrived.

"Oh?" Munakata pushed his glasses up his face, face grim. "You have some new about the slates?" Mikoto shrugged, mouth twisted downwards in a grimace.

"Well yeah - me an' my boys have been trynna get it off the streets. Real shit that stuff is." Out of the corner of his eyes, Benzai noticed how Fushimi was stiffened slightly before immediately moving closer. "Make you go real bat shittin' crazy. Someone I knew once took it - couldn't stop. It ate him away."

"What does it do?" Kamo questioned but before Mikoto could respond, someone had already beaten him to it.

"It basically puts you in a coma like state where you start hallucinating that you're living in a fantasy world. You start blabbering nonsense about powers and auras and magical horses before it finally destroys your cerebral cortex, ending you completely." Fushimi said dully, ignoring their surprised look, "That's not what I want to know. What I'd be interested in finding out is who's supplying it. Seeing as you're the local gang around here - oh don't give me that look, you know it's true! Anyways, what was I saying? Oh yes, since you're the local gang, it seems odd that some other people would be working under your turfs. I know how gangs work and even you have some laws you normally abide by or things could get ugly real fast." Mikoto smirked, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it up before putting it to his lips to take a long drag.

"Heh. Seems like you've been on the streets yourself kid." Fushimi stared back at him blankly.

"I might have been there briefly." Mikoto exhaled another long spiral of smoke before rolling his shoulders.

"Dunno who's distributin' it but ain't no gang. Haven't seen anyone like that around here and trust me, we'd know in an instant if someone was acting suspicious in our area." Fushimi nodded.

"So it's not a gang but still someone with enough resources and contacts to get around." he murmured, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Benzai wondered why their youngest member seemed to be so concerned about this. Even if the person regulating had sold the drugs to the killer, he hardly thought that it would help. What if the unsub had bought it from a secondary source? It didn't make sense for them to be so invested into this.

"We need to find out who the unknown victim is." Fushimi's words finally rang out, startling them all, "I have a hunch about something - but I can only confirm it if we discover who the latest victim is. Besides Yukari Mishakuji - the other body." Munakata tilted his head.

"Are you sure?" he questioned, eyes sharp. Fushimi nodded.

"Without a doubt. I'll go look more into my own theory a bit - I have a few phone calls to make." The face Fushimi said all what he thought about the contacts he was calling. If there was any way to look more displeased and pissed off than he looked at that moment, Benzai didn't know of it. "It'll be a pain asking him - but I suppose it's time I rang up that idiot." Munakata raised an eyebrow.

"If you won't mind me asking Fushimi kun," he asked politely, "Who might you be referring to?" The raven haired male sighed and pulled out his cellphone.

"Kamamoto Rikio - an old friend of Misaki's."

* * *

Fushimi pulled his old cell phone out from the depths of his bag and threw his bag onto the only chair in the room before he pulled up an old contact. Staring at it for a few minutes, internally debating with himself, he finally managed to press the call button, forcing himself to not curse when he heard the line connect instantly.

"Fushimi Saruhiko - what a surprise." The tone on the other end was light but Fushimi could detect traces of underlying caution and curiosity in the other's words. "Didn't think I'd ever get a call from you - that's why I gave you my number." A scowl found it's way on Fushimi's lips. He was in his room at the hotel, sitting cross legged on his bed, wondering why he was doing this in the first place. The heat given off from the fire in the fireplace made his body tingle with warmth and he unconsciously moved closer to it, shivering slightly and wondering why such an establishment couldn't afford normal fucking heat.

"Yeah well I didn't think I'd need to ever ask for your help either you walking pile of human trash." The man on the other end chuckled.

"I see 5 years has done nothing for your attitude." the other replied dryly, "What happened? Did Yata san finally see what a shit bag you are and walk out on you?" Fushimi snorted.

"Right - as if. No I actually called to call in a favor." The was a sudden clutter and Fushimi guessed the other had dropped whatever they had been holding in their hands including their phone out of shock.

"Wait," Kamamoto's voice sounded incredulous even through the static and interference, "Did you just ask for help?" Fushimi pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and thumb sighing loudly.

"Yes, you imbecile - I did. Go throw a party."

"Okay who are you and what have you done to Fushimi Saruhiko. Just know, he's a member of the PSIA and they'll want him back. Actually no - you can keep him. Tell him I said good riddance!"

"Listen here you little piece of shit-"

"So it is you! Alright I'm calling Yata san to tell him you're dying-"

"Will you just shut up for five seconds and listen you oversized bag of potatoes?"

"Oversized bag of... aww I'm almost touched. That was the nicest thing you've said to me - ever." Fushimi was very tempted to just shut off the phone and forget the whole thing but a sudden flash of two smiling faces forced him to grit his teeth and kept him from disconnecting the call.

"It's about the Slates." A sharp intake of breath on the other end made him thank every God that ever existed that he had grasped the seriousness of the situation. The other man fell silent for the longest time and if it hadn't been for the shallow deep breaths he could hear on the other end, he'd have figured the call got dropped.

"The Slates are gone." The urgency in the other's voice almost made Fushimi feel bad for him. "They're gone! We shut down the whole factory and the only one who knew how to make any of that stuff hung himself!" Fushimi walked over to the window overlooking the city and noted how it was almost getting dark outside.

"Yes, that's what I thought too." he murmured softly, eyes focused on two distant points of light blinking on top of what seemed like electrical towers. They were quite close together so at a single glance Fushimi had mistaken them as one when he had first arrived but upon further inspection, he had detailed two lone towers standing apart. "But apparently someone must have gotten their hold on the research from that facility. The drug's been circulating around this area and people have been killed over it and by it." The silence on the other end gave him the confidence to forge on ahead with his theory. "There's one unidentified body here..."

"And you think it must be one of the kids from a local orphanage..." Kamamoto's voice came out, barely above a whisper. "Fuck if it's an orphanage then -"

"Then the ring we shut down three years ago wasn't a single unit thing." Fushimi took a deep breath exhaling softly before his eyes went back to the horizon. "It was part of a larger organization."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah that about sums up all of it rather nicely." Fushimi muttered dryly, "Now the favor I wanted to ask you - do you remember -" Fushimi paused, opting to choose his words carefully so as not to upset the other man. "Do you remember the orphanage..." There was sharp clicking of tongue on the other end and Fushimi knew that he did.

That place of nightmares was not one you could easily forget.

"Yes."

Ah - one word answers then. Shit, this was going to be bothersome. Fushimi internally cursed himself for not giving this job over to someone who could actually manage getting other people to open up but as it was, he had little desire to share the details regarding that case. It had taken him two days to mull over things and finally decide that yes, it was worth digging up some old graves to prevent any fresh new ones.

"Can you tell me about the place?" Fushimi mumbled and then, after a small pause, added as an afterthought, "Please?" Kamamoto snorted.

"Don't say nice words of general human decency, they don't suit you." Fushimi couldn't help but internally agree with the other man so he bit back a sharp response. "Okay, what do you want to know."

"I just want a list of directors and people working there back when you and Misaki used to stay there. Dig up all the old records -"

"What the hell Fushimi, I'm not looking for the names of every housemaid that ever walked into that house!"

"Not maids." Fushimi said urgently, crouching down in order to toss more wood into the fireplace. He watched a large piece of wood cracked with a soft hiss and embers jumped all over it, flames licking over the piece till it was entirely consumed. "I just need a name of all the higher ups and caretakers. Directors, sponsors, whatever you can think of." Another long pause on the other end made him roll his eyes. "Yes, you will need Aya's help for this. Contact her."

"Your cousin is really weird just saying. Why don't you do it yourself?"

"Really? Wow you sound like I hadn't spent half my entire life living with her." Sarcasm dripping from his words like poison but he didn't care. Aya Oogai had always been a sore subject for anyone to bring up with him. "But as annoying and creepy as she is, she knows her way around databases and computers. She's a manipulative little bitch but she's got the hacking skills of a pro. I can't right now - I need to look into several other things and I'm working on a case here!"

"Hacking runs in the family genes I see." Kamamoto said lightly, "Just like being a shitty person." Fushimi was suddenly plagued by visions of his father and the cold mansion where no light ever seemed to enter, no matter where the sun was positioned in the sky - the cold empty hallways – and couldn't help but agree with the blonde's words.

Shivering visibly, he moved even closer to the fire, tightening his grip on his jacket.

"Yeah...it's a family thing. Look, I'll call her up and then convince her okay. Just - just don't be surprised when you hear from her."

Kamamoto fell silent before he started talking again.

"Yata san - is he doing alright?" Fushimi's mind immediately ventured of to the thoughts of the energetic red head who was nothing but smiles whenever he returned and the small apartment they shared.

"Yeah...Misaki's gonna be just fine."

* * *

"Oh look - what trouble brings the highest powers at the doorsteps of us mere mortals?"

"Aya."

"Cousin dearest."

Aya's voice was laced with malice and mock respect. It was times like these when Fushimi remembered exactly why he hated his cousin in the first place. Even though both of them had been bought up together, there was no love lost between the two. The animosity ran deep in their veins; anger, resentment and bitterness at each other only for the mere reasons that there was no one else to direct it to. Years of hurt and abuse had built up, festering underneath their skins until their sense of family and bonds had morphed into something close to sinister.

Even after years of therapy, both couldn't let go, couldn't forget the things done - by themselves and by each other.

"I'm glad you're managing your business well." Fushimi finally mumbled out after a stagnant pause - in which neither knew what to say to the other, to mend ties with the only living relatives they had - there was no one else just them - a sense of family and security both had lost early on in their childhood.

"Cut to the bullshit, what do you want?"

Ah - so they were going to be like that then.

"I need you to hack into a server and get a list of employees from sometime back. You remember Misaki?" Aya chuckled lowly. Fushimi took that as a yes and continued. "Go back five years and look into the orphanage he was staying in – it was a called Himmelreich. Check for everyone back then who was connected to the case. Then send that list over to me." He heard the sound of a laptop being worked in the background. "And ask Kamamoto for help too; he probably can help eliminate some people too." He heard the woman click her tongue sharply.

"I have a life aside from your legal-illegal dealings you know." She grumbled, "Okay, find the list of people related to the drug case and send it to you. Anything else?" Fushimi thought about the unknown victim and sighed.

"No this is it. And-" _Thank you._

The words died on his lips, and he swallowed thickly. "Goodbye."

There was a small click and the line went dead.

* * *

 **Downtown** **,** **Mikoto's** **apartment,** **Shizume** **city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **6** **th October,** **Tues** **day.**

 **[0** **4** **:** **0** **0 AM]**

Ringing. The phone was ringing.

It was four in the goddamn morning why the fuck was the phone ringing?

Mikoto got up and squinted at the clock on his bedside to make sure that he was right and he was – the neon green digits blared at him reading 4:03 AM. Groaning, he glared at it for a few moment as if it was the offending person daring to call him at the ungodly hour. Choosing to ignore the call in favor of sleep, he rolled over and covered his face with a pillow and was only stopped from completely dozing off by a snooty voice accompanied by an adjustment of glasses up a nose he had to fight very hard to keep himself from punching in.

"'lo?" He grumbled, "If it's ya Munakata I swear I don care that ya have a morning jog routine or somethin', I'm not gonna join ya and your team-" The voice that interrupted him was not the clipped tone of the man he had gotten close to over the last few days.

"Suoh Mikoto."

"You're not Munakata..."

"I'd commend you on your observation skills if we weren't so short on time."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Colorless."

"You killed Tatara..."

"Indeed. But he was only a pawn in the real game."

"I'm gonna kill you."

"Oh? But you can't do that in front of your FBI boyfriend."

"I'm gonna skin ya alive for what ya did to 'im."

"Call off your boys if you don't want any misfortune to befall them." The voice on the other end was cold and precise – sending chills down Mikoto's back. "The search you have for the Slates – call it off and I'll end this on a peaceful note."

"Ya call killin' 20 people an' a FBI agent 'peaceful'?"

"I can do much much worse." The voice once again took a sugary sweet tone, "So call them off for your own good.. Goodbye." Mikoto opened his mouth to curse him or tell him no fucking way but the beeping noise in his ear told him the call had already been dropped. Sitting up, he stared at the wall opposite to him before grabbing his alarm clock and throwing it against the wall in frustration, where it shattered into pieces upon impact.

Pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his bedside drawers, he lit one in order to calm his nerves. The nicotine entering his system did nothing to calm his nerves so he angrily put it out and glared at the scortched surface of the wooden ashtray.

"Fuckin' hell, what did that kid get himself into!"

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **6** **th October,** **Tues** **day.**

 **[** **11** **:43** **A** **M** **]**

"Munakata Reisi, this is Hisui Nagare. Could I perhaps have a bit of your time? It's quite urgent and I have no doubt, the information I have will be of quite use to you." The bespectacled man nodded, and the dark haired man was wheeled in by Sakuna, who seemed to have gone into a quiet state after discovering his brother's body. Hisui inclined his head.

"Greeting. I wish we could have met under better circumstances but as the situation appears to be, it seems the case has gotten altogether more dire." Munakata sighed.

"What do you want?" He asked, not troubling to tone down his words. He had recently lost a subordinate, he was allowed to be a bit snippy. Hisui simply cocked his head to the side, eying him.

"It is not what I want rather what you need Munakata Reisi. The identity of the body that was discovered with Yukari." Behind him, Sakuna visibly flinched and recoiled a bit. Munakata gave him a quick glance before his eyes settled on the man in front of him.

"Oya? Even our top analysts were having-"

"Please don't ask me how I got this information, that would prove to be...a tedious task." Munakata gave him a hard stare before finally relenting.

"Alright, as the current situation is what it is, I suppose I can let this go. Who's the unknown man."

"Sakuna." The albino behind him hesitated before pulling out a laptop from his bag. Setting it on the desk, he loaded up a file and a familiar face flashed on the screen. "Hieda Toru. Age 17. The reason you couldn't find him on any databases is because he was an orphan living in the local orphanage and his actual documentation was lost before he was sent here from Kyoto." Munakata glanced the two newcomers but chose to remain silent on how they had obtained the information. "He was a lonely child, didn't speak much – lost his parents in an accident when he was 12. That is all I have been able to find but I'm sure you and your team can now secure more information with this new revelations."

"Thank you for your help, this will help greatly in the case." Munakata agreed. The man smiled.

"It was my pleasure. After all, for one who harms my precious friends – I do not take such a thing lightly." Bidding their farewells, the two made their way outside, leaving the rest of them behind.

"That dude gives me the chills." Andy muttered and next to him, Gotou was nodding with fevor. Munakata clapped his hands.

"Okay everyone, now that we've gotten this much, let's get back to work shall we?"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

 **Police Station,** **Shizume** **city, Tokyo, Japan.**

 **6** **th October, Monday.**

 **[0** **6** **:** **1** **9 P** **M]**

"I need you to promise me this stays between the two of us." Fushimi's eyes were cold – Munakata had no doubt that something was troubling him. The older man nodded, raising his eyebrow at his favorite subordinate.

"Alright what do you what to talk about?" he prodded, and upon a blank stare from the other, raised both hands into the air in a sign of clear surrender, "Completely off the grid." The raven-haired man bit his lower lip and Munakata noted how he was shifting from one foo to another, indicating straight up signs of severe nervousness – something he had only witnessed once in his life out of the other.

When his father's trial had been taking place.

Fushimi glanced around, eyes darting back and forth a bit before fixing themselves onto his superior, taking a deep breath as if trying to collect himself before delivering a huge blow.

"Yata Misaki once murdered a civilian."

All rational thought ceased to exist.

The blue-eyed officer seemed to be staring at him, trying gauge out a response but Munakata didn't know what to say. To think that Fushimi Saruhiko was dating - currently living, with a murderer was completely-

The logical part of his brain finally kick started into gear and he cleared his throat.

"I see. Any special reason?" He tried to keep his voice calm – steady; faking an air of nonchalance in order to not scare away the other. Fushimi was still gazing at him intently, his mouth set in a thin line. His entire posture had straightened up and for the first time, Munakata was struck with the thought of how much the boy had changed from when he had first met him.

And how much he had not.

"It's okay Fushimi, you can trust me." He added a bit gently, hoping to pull Fushimi out of his shell in order to coax the whole story out of him. Fushimi's shoulders trembled a bit before he exhaled loudly, as if he had been holding his breath. His shoulders dropped and he gave him a tentative look.

"He was under influence and the local police dropped the charges because someone forced him onto drugs –"

"The slates."

The flinch was all the confirmation Munakata needed. Suddenly Fushimi's odd behavior made a lot of sense. He smiled, adjusting his glasses on his face.

"I see. And I suppose this is something to do with the case otherwise I will have to assume you're telling me this of your own free will as a sign of trust and compassion as-" A small huff of laughter cut off his words as the man in front of him straightened up, and rolled his eyes.

"Right. Keep telling yourself that old man. Meanwhile I'll just go inform the others that there is certain importance to the fact that Totsuka Tatara and Kukuri Yukizome, both, worked for a local orphanage. Because Misaki-"

"Yata Misaki was from an orphanage himself."

"Affirmative." Fushimi didn't even bother asking why Munakata would know such thing. He had stopped questioning why the older man seemed to be so keen on invading his private life but as long as he never made contact with Misaki, it had been fine. Munakata seemed to have gone deep in thought as he stared out through the glass doors, seemingly observing the people working in the office.

"And pardon me for getting this wrong if I do, Yata Misaki first made contact with said drug in his orphanage?" Fushimi nodded, a far-off look entering his eyes.

"I thought we had shut it down for good." he finally admitting, eyes lowering and his hands clenched tightly, forming fists that Munakata had firm belief he was imagining planting in someone's face. "Clearly we were wrong."

"We?" Munakata was slowly beginning to understand what had happened. A small smile graced the other's lips.

"There's a reason Misaki was let off free from the local PD." Fushimi said, this time with a tinge of pride coloring his voice, "Misaki and I shut down the drug ring completely – even shut down the only place where it was being manufactured."

"Except it's popped back up again." Munakata muttered softly, his brain going in overdrive trying to assess the new situation. Fushimi nodded, the smile wiping off of his face only to be replaced with a scowl.

"Yes and it's obvious what connects these two cases – apart from the Slates I mean." Fushimi muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His forehead wrinkled down in a frown as he began to verbally review things that had been circulating his mind for the past few days, "Misaki had been living in a local orphanage where he was first offered drugs by one of the caretakers over there. Now we discover that Hieda Toru also died of the same drug over dose while also living in an orphanage. While the drug had been mildly watered down in Misaki's case, the latest victim had not been so lucky. He died because he was injected with 100% concentrated solution of liquid Slates. But looking at the other victim, Yukari Mishakuji, it's obvious that the same drug dosage is not what took his life him so clearly whoever is working the drug upped the dosage with no an intention to kill but-"

"Human experimentation." The final puzzle piece was slotted into place and suddenly, Munakata could see the answer dancing before his eyes. There was an unanswered itch in his mind though.

"The killer has shown a clear case of split personality disorder. One sadistic and one gentle and remorseful." He muttered, his mind going off at the speed of light.

Something was bugging him. Fushimi nodded grimly.

"Yes – he has shown signs of a split personality…because there is a split personality."

There.

Munakata's violet eyes locked with Fushimi's, who's mouth was curved low into a deep scowl, blue eyes darkening as if a storm was brewing behind those irises.

"We have two different killers."

* * *

Well...I hope you enjoyed that. *exhausted*


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